Come True (2020) User Reviews

Enjoyable, If Watched Properly

[stevenevans-28597 · 7/10 · 22 June 2022]

This is one of those movies that will only resonate with a certain type of audience. Even then, I believe that, in order for its magic to truly work, it must be watched under the right conditions. You'll need a place that is dark and quiet, with little potential for interruptions -- like phones ringing, or that sort of thing.

Despite what anyone says, I easily don't consider this to be a horror movie. So if you're a huge horror fan, and are looking to be scared, or you're looking for lots of gore, then this isn't what you're looking for. Also, if you're an impatient viewer, who needs lots of crazy things happening, in order to constantly keep you entertained and on the edge of your seat, then you should pass on this one. This movie is for the type of person who can appreciate a slower-paced, simple story. It's not boring. However, you have to be the type of person who doesn't need a lot of stimulation, or a complex plot, in order to be intrigued. It basically has the pace of a tempered drama -- although, it's not a drama.

I watched this movie, early in the morning, while it was still dark, and while the world was quiet and still. I truly believe that, if I hadn't watched it in that setting, I wouldn't have appreciate it, as well. This is because it's an atmosphere-driven movie.

One of the things that quickly stuck out, for me, is some of the music, and the overall tone of the film. By the end, I knew that I would likely purchase the soundtrack, and since, have. This is one of those movies where the music plays a critical role.

The casting, for this movie, is done well. I've never seen the lead actress before. However, had someone else been cast in this role, you'd certainly have a different movie. I was impressed by her performance, since she made her character feel authentic, even though there isn't a ton of dialogue. She also has a certain look that easily fits the part.

I truly believe that most people won't like this movie. However, if you're the type of person who can appreciate atmosphere, and doesn't need a lot of loud, fast-paced stimulation, then you may enjoy this movie.

had potential but crash lands

[kqyxxp · 5/10 · 18 April 2022]

This movie started out great. If you had asked me to rate it half way though, i would have rated it in the 8 range. Second half of the movie gets boring and in a few points kind of silly. Its one of those movies too where the ending negates what happened in the movie and makes it frustrating. And as others have said, nothing overtly scary happens (some scary images but it goes no where) so i wouldnt even consider it horror, it is definitely more sci fi.

It is not horrible but barely worth the watch.

Had potential.

[becky-92346 · 5/10 · 22 April 2023]

Come True (2020) follows an 18-year-old who signs herself up for a sleep disorder study that becomes a nightmarish descent into her own mind. This film definitely has potential, it sets an intriguing tone and has some good sound design. However there isn't enough driving force and it falls short of being interesting.

Firstly, this film is way too visually dark. The lighting is extremely poor and it was very rare that I could actually see any of the shots clearly. I also expected a lot more from the colour palettes, which are mainly quite dull and rather lifeless to look at.

Something this film does very well is the sound design. It really helps to set the mood, and the original score is incredibly ominous and creates a good level of tension.

The movie gives us a good introduction to the characters, but unfortunately they are rather uninteresting and written in a very shallow manner; I wanted to know more about them but little information is provided. Additionally, the romance is very forced and feels completely out of place in the film. However, the acting is pretty good from everyone involved.

Unfortunately, this movie isn't an effective slow-burn, but I respect what the filmmakers are going for. The film starts by setting an eerie tone with strong mystery, but a lot is revealed way too soon making the last half of the film feel somewhat pointless. There just isn't enough going on, and I found the final plot twist to be incredibly ridiculous.

Young girl is in a sleep study. Or maybe not?!

[TxMike · 10 December 2021]

Canadian movie, it opens with visions of blurred, shadowy male figures with glowing eyes. We sense it is a dream then we see a teenage girl waking up in a sleeping bag on the bottom part of a slide in a town park. Then later by chance she sees an ad on a bulletin board for volunteers for a sleep study. She hasn't been sleeping well, has recurring nightmares, and frequently falls asleep in class. So she snaps at the chance, also because it will pay her.

So the movie goes on and I found it very interesting. There is a 30-odd year old movie called "Jacob's Ladder" and of that movie I wrote "everything in the film depicts dreams, hallucinations, and memories during those few minutes before death, as he is fighting for his life." That was my interpretation and there are things in this movie that remind me of that.

The big reveal, the "twist", comes at the very end of the movie with a message on her cell phone. Intellectually I know what happened during the movie but I can't put it all together in a coherent summary. I don't fully grasp what the filmmaker was depicting. There are certain symbols, like the two times 7:11 and 10:01 which apparently mean something to those who study spiritualism but escape me.

Am I glad I spent the time watching it? Yes, I am, even though I can't fully explain what the movie is saying. Would I watch it again? Probably not. The main actress is interesting, she plays an 18-yr-old (needed for the sex scene) and was probably 20 during filming, but with her short blond hair and youthful features looked almost like my 12-yr-old blond headed grandson. I don't say that in any negative way, I found her to be very appropriate for the role and her acting was very effective.

On DVD from my public library, my wife skipped, not her kind of movie.

Could Have Been Much More

[theodore62 · 6/10 · 17 March 2021]

This movie has several things going for it, but ultimately disappoints. The central idea is a good one, and the lead actor gives a strong performance. She's likely to become more well known soon. The cinematography is strong, and the score is good, as is the direction, which owes quite a bit to Kubrick. Where the movie fails is in the writing, and to a lesser extent in the performances of the supporting cast. The dialogue is sometimes trite, and the plot is thin with holes. The end is both predictable and yet somehow even more disappointing than one expects. I don't mean to be harsh; the movie is worth a look. Just be prepared to be let down a bit by it all, in the end.

Great cinematography... that's about it.

[jcooloti · 4/10 · 13 March 2021]

This movie looks fantastic. The dream sequences are great and the cinematography over all is way better than anything else going on here. The lead actress was fine, but the supporting cast is cringingly horrible at delivering their sub-par dialogue.

Okay. So here's the problem for me. What are the stakes, or rather, what does this lead character have to lose? Why won't she sleep at home? Why is she so angry with the research team? Who's the antagonist? It's not the lead doctor... is it the night people? Who are the night people? What's with the vampire teeth? Why is she murderer? oh but wait... none of this matters because nothing is real and she's in a coma.

WHAT A COPOUT. That crap just didn't make any sense. It's dumb, not deep.

Anthony Scott Burns should have just thrown this pile of garbage in the trash after writing that sequence where she is watching "the nerd" dream about her while the synth-wave soundtrack blares in our ears... which completely derails the movie in a crash course to clown town. He probably didn't though because he was so excited to shoot his movie, which he definitely had an idea of how he was going to do that (probably after one of his many Michael Mann binges... I get it. I love the Keep as well) And while we're on the subject of music... I'm sorry, but some things are sacred, and the soundtrack to Michael Mann's Manhunter is one of them. That really irked me. I love Michael Mann movies, and honestly, I love how influenced this film was by his work, but taking an iconic song from one of his best films just pushed it over the edge.

It's worth a watch to see the pretty pictures and the extremely well set up shots. But don't expect anything but that. The director is ALSO the cinematographer, which would explain maybe why the acting direction isn't that good, because honestly I don't think these actors are bad, it's just they have a lack of direction. This guy, Anthony Scott Burns is one hell of a cinematographer, but needs to up his writing and directing game if he's going to try to pull off all three to make a movie that works. Even Michael Mann didn't try to do all three.

Intresting and entertaining - but kinda lost near the end

[pipo- · 7/10 · 21 March 2021]

Props to the visual dept nice creepy images and somewhat interesting storyline but it gets confusing or lost near the end of the movie and kinda just leaves you hanging.

We basically have 4 options the movie leaves you with 1. she is actually in a coma the whole time and a group researchers are trying to reach her / pull her out (the shadow creatures), but perhaps when they start to succeed it causes the real physical harm to come through (eyes bleeding) perhaps what reflecting what happened in the real world.

2. She is having a nightmare

3. He is having a nightmare about her since in his monitor showed her as a vampire type creature, and it started in the er room where he fell asleep, and since he needed to strap him self into a bed his dreams must be pretty extreme.

4. she is a vampire or a ghost/dead

we also have a lot of plot holes left for example the mother why she was always running away and the mother doesn't seem to look for her, the experiment is never fully explained, we have the guy with the huge glasses but it seems to be the other guys project I thought Meyers was the main project leader?, also doesn't explain his role either, the girl that left the project in the beginning seemed to had a big part too play then just fizzled out, as-well as the other participants right when it got good and they saw the shadow creature just ended it with that scene.

I thought it was creepy enough for a 7/10 even if the script got messed up.

I didn't hate this movie but I didn't really like it that much either.

[mochteam · 3/10 · 5 February 2022]

I didn't hate this movie but I didn't really like it that much either. It was like watching the first 15 minutes of a film where they establish the plot...except that first 15 minutes last 1 hour and 30 minutes.

The story never really gets off to go anywhere. It also is more of a sci-fi film than a horror film. I'm not sure how this movie would constitute as "horror" especially when it has so much Synth pop/Synth wav Blade Runner music going on. Nothing sinister about it.

There's even this one scene where a synth pop song comes on while the lead actress is watching some sort of classic MTV like dream video. I mean if this movie was some sort of Synth Pop music themed movie with no dialogue I think it would be cool... but it's not it's an actual movie that's supposed to have a plot and dialogue.

This movie is like watching the boring bits of Nightmare on Elm Street with the "Never Ending Story" Soundtrack playing over it.

It seems that the director was being too artistic with the visuals and the music to invest into the story. It has the elements to be a good story and decent enough actors but they don't ever do anything with any of it. It's like this movie could sit right on the shelf next to that one other movie "Sucker Punch" (another movie about nothing really) and fit right at home along side it.

This movie is really half baked. Perhaps if it were the introduction to a "series" that had a plot that progressed instead of a 2 hour film than it would seem more fitting but as it is watching this movie is like driving on a straight road with no curves and no scenery to look at.

Sure the trip is pleasant enough because it's uneventful but it's also highly forgettable because nothing happens but at least you have your radio to play some synth pop tunes along the way I guess.

Also... the ending is absolutely ridiculous.

A Trippy Slow-burn

[corpsevapour · 8/10 · 14 March 2021]

There have been quite a few slow-burn type movies coming through the grape-vine and the majority have been boring or way too slow with minimal story (looking at you synchronic).

Come True was filmed in my home-town of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. For those that live here you'll know that not too many films get made here and the ones that do can be subpar at best due to budget's being constrained or lack of vision.

Might I say that this film has an extraordinary vision looking into the deep recesses of the mind. It takes a deep look at nightmares and without giving too much away visualizes them in a trippy 90's CRT format that you have to see in order to believe. The renders and compositing that the VFX team did is beyond chilling to the bone and I highly recommend paying extra attention to those sections in order to get the most out the movie.

The ending is a bit weird though and I have to mention it seemed a bit rushed for a chase sequence. I would have loved to see this extended a bit with more added tension.

Case-in-point not every movie is perfect. Come True makes those imperfections work for itself and delivers a coherent and intriguing story about dreams and how they affect us. Highly recommend to watch while smoking a joint and letting the soundtrack take you on a trip.

Good, but I really wanted to like it so much more

[kuarinofu · 7/10 · 13 March 2021]

Come True is an interesting one. The title has multiple meanings, the ending message also seems to have them.

Yet I still wanted it to be so much better. All the visual substance I enjoyed quite a lot. The soundtrack was strangely recognizable but still good. The production design was very reminiscent of Posessor (2020), as well as some of the lighting choices were. Also, the CGI nightmare cut-ins were creative, they felt inspired by some dark art themes, some videogame inspirations even, like Dark Souls and especially Darkwood, or maybe something else I'm not aware of.

Story-wise it is somewhat messy, there is a justification for this, but sometimes it feels really disconnected. The twist felt surprising but in a weaker way. At some point, it becomes clear that they are building up to something they cannot deliver cause they literally have like 2-3 long segments of build-ups that lead to nothing. The problem is that the type of story that they are using requires vague hints or better understandable symbolism. I've seen a couple of similar films but I don't want to name them to avoid spoilers. The way they did it just doesn't connect. Also, the idea of merging the real world with the subconscious nightmare world was awesome, but they still messed it up with that awkward twist.

There isn't much in terms of characters or character development. Some of the dialogue is interesting, but as I've said the characters do not drive the story, they could've been doing anything else or not doing anything at all, the ending would still be the same. This concept is similar to the Evil Within game series, actually.

I really hope that I've just missed the bigger picture (and possible hints) and the film is better than I understood it, but when I re-think what I just saw, I just can't find more good stuff to endorse. Worth a watch.

Interesting at First and Then...

[Mehki_Girl · 3/10 · 12 November 2022]

... Becomes interminable and you just wish it would end already.

This is a slow born that never picks up at any point. It's just watching an actress with essentially one facial expression - none - with her mouth hanging open.

She's a partial runaway, but we don't know why. We see who is be her mom as she enters her bedroom a few times to take things and take showers.

She attends high school a couple of times and sleeps in a park (not sure why the authorities in her school haven't been notified she is a runaway and turn hey over to her mom). Later we learn, she's 18 yo. Maybe she goes to class for the free lunch. Who knows. Who cares. We certainly don't.

Anyway, she has nightmares of some dark figure, who never features prominently in the movie although you'll think it does.

Never exists outside of the dream or materializes and in the end is meaningless, although shown over and over again as though this figure features prominently in mankind's dream. Nope it don't.

She enters a sleep study so she has a place to squat at night then on the park slide. She never tells them about her nightmares. They soon learn about them anyway, because, they've figured out a way to visualize people's dreams - to what practical purpose we never really know. Is it to cure us of nightmares? Who cares?

Anyway it gets a little creepy and you think the people there want to harm her. Nope.

One of the nerds likes her and eventually beds her. She has a bleeding eye after one nightmare, but we really never learn why.

Apparently or signifies absolutely nothing. It's just.. there.

So then we finally after yet a long period that ends into nothing. We come to the end and we find out that...dun dun dun.... That she's a vampire? A coma patient?

Hell of we know.

The End.

That's it folks!

Was going to give this a six for keeping me in some sort of suspense or at least wanting to know what's going on but the ending drops it down to three stars.

Very underrated

[ontheis · 10/10 · 22 June 2022]

I saw this movie 2 years ago, and it's still among the best ones since the beginning of 2020s, in horror genre. It's memorable, has a lot of scary stuff, it's stylish and atmospheric, what else do you expect? There aren't a lot of high quality horrors currently, and this one really stands out. Right now, the rating is 6,0. I guess it will take some time before this movie gets higher score, because it's really underrated.

A dreamy, visual story, with a poor ending (don't look at IMDB images of the movies, there's a massive SPOILER!)

[foxtografo · 6/10 · 6 October 2022]

I really enjoyed the atmosphere and visuals of this movie. The dream scene's designs are so cool, I would watch them all in a row, really dark art there.

This is the strongest aspect of the movie.

The sound is really good too, adds up a lot to the atmosphere, creating a creepy, mysterious vibe.

Good performances throughout, most of the characters are quite solid in their parts.

Story wise, there's a good tension and mystery feeling through the first two acts, but the third one feels stretched and even a bit incoherent by times. This is fixed my the very ending's twist, but I'm not too sure I liked the it. It's a valid one, but it might feel cheap or overdone for some people. I don't think it's a brilliant ending, but it serves well to a decent movie.

As I say on the title, there's a massive spoiler on the images of this movie on IMDB, so don't look at them if you haven't watch the movie yet.

I recommend this movie to visual lovers and if you're in the mood of a very slow paced movie.

The twist people got tired of about a century ago

[jollycrabwise · 3/10 · 31 October 2021]

There's no plot structure to speak of, or a plot, really - just a premise and a decent cast of characters - but the subject matter, acting and directing were top notch, making it an enjoyable watch... up until the "twist" ending. "It was all just a dream" has never been the mindblowing trope some sub-par writers seem to think it is, but it's so overdone by now I was shocked to see it in a movie that came out in 2020. What exactly did the screenwriter think this movie would gain from that clumsy swerve? "You thought this story was about science breaking through the boundary between the subconscious and reality, but it's actually just about the subconscious doing its usual subconscious schtick?" It instantly went from a pleasantly eerie experience to a waste of time. I won't be recommending this movie to anyone I know - a disappointing ending really makes you think about all the other fun or productive things you could've done with your time instead..

Ambitious

[begob · 7/10 · 13 August 2021]

An insomniac student signs up for a sleep study, only to find her dreams mean more than she knew ...

Good performances in a story that reaches to another dimension in the exploration of character. The dreamscapes are macabre and well shot, and while the pace is patchy there is a moment of deep fear as the threat is fully revealed. The score is also interesting, except for ten minutes around the middle point when it seems to tread water just as the tension should be piled on.

A couple of points where credulity is stretched, but by the end I found myself having to rethink them because of the change in the logic of the story telling. There is a key to this, but I haven't figured out how far back the crucial change occurred. The director points to a Jungian framework, with captions naming four aspects of the psyche - the persona, anima and animus, the shadow, and the self. At the start we encounter the shadow, which is clearly part of a dream, but looking back it's unclear whether we touch base with reality at all - and so the heroine's odd domestic circumstances are never explained. There are a few more clues, like the change of eye colour, the disappearance of the other female volunteer, the simultaneity of the dreams, and some deep point about having sex with one's own opposite, but I'd have to watch more closely to piece it together.

The danger with hanging a story from a framework is that you lose touch with the character and drama. This does a good job, but I'd really have to trust the director's skill to commit to rewatching.

Overall: Ambitious, but I wasn't sure what it was offering me.

Outstanding

[kylenaas · 1/10 · 29 June 2021]

Sorry, the title of my review is absolutely misleading and 100% not at all what the content of the review will contain; much like the movie about a teenage girl who has odd nightmares but then isn't what the movie is about at all you've been duped. I didn't figure a movie based off a creepypasta meme would be the worst movie I've watched since the pandemic started but, here we are. An astonishing waste of time and effort after an admittedly interesting beginning that stumbles through odd relationships, nonsense twists, disposable and forgettable characters, and a "twist" ending that screams "I don't care you watched this whole thing, you get nothing and will like it."

Wow. Just. Wow.

Interesting

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 18 March 2021]

Anthony Scott Burns, who directed the "Father's Day" part of Holidays, directed this story of Sarah (Julia Sarah Stone), who has dealt with nightmares to the point that she avoids sleep by hiding in public parks. However, a sleep clinic offers her an opportunity to escape her the terrors that confront her at night, but then things only get worse.

Instead of Sarah getting the answers to finally getting the rest that she always wanted, instead she's become the key to something dangerous. There's a shadow figure that keeps showing up when Sarah is part of the sleep study and simply seeing an image of this when she's awake drives her into a panic attack.

The most frightening thing about this movie is that sleep paralysis is an actual phenomenon and the shadow figures are a reported part of what those that suffer from it see.

There's a dark synth score playing under all of this and a twist ending that's either going to please you greatly or make you enraged for wasted so much time watching this. It feels like there isn't going to be an in-between because it's pretty audacious.

A movie about C.G. Jung and sleep that is neither about Jung nor sleep

[VBeretta · 4/10 · 2 June 2021]

Full disclosure: at 45 I decided to go to the University. I studied Cognitive Psychology and my dissertation was about the impact of New Media (including cellphones and tablets) on sleep patterns in the current era. I'm also a comic book writer who wrote a story about Jung, alchemy and shadows dwelling in forests.

Let's start by saying that this movie is extremely well shot and produced. The cinematographer (who is also the writer and the director) not only made the most out of a low budget, but also created unusually realistic camera effects to "immerse" the viewer into altered states, from disorientation to seizures. The acting by the central character is good, too.

Sadly, the rest (and the writing "in primis") is an astounding mess. Let's start with the use of Jungian terms as, literally "chapter titles". Did the director bothered to look beyond the word? "Persona" introduces the main character. "Anima and Animus" shows he become acquainted with a researcher (who, I swear, for the whole movie I mistook for Daniel Radcliffe); those terms aren't referred to "male" and "female". "The Shadow" is, literally, centered on shadow figures; this is stunningly not what Jung meant with this term. And so on.

The protagonist suffers from a serious sleep disorder, characterised by insomnia followed by deep dives into lovecraftian/Silent Hill-ish nightmares. She flees from her mother for reasons unknown and enrolls in an experimental sleep study hoping for solace. Both she and the other subjects are not "chosen": they freely sign up. Yet, the others... have her same nightmares?

While monitored she wears a suit with cables. "We can't tell you why" say the researchers. Why? Polysomnography is a very common sleep study that monitors the whole body (around the clock, BTW, not only during sleep). Bad sleep can have a lot of sources, including problems with usually common body functions during the day (like an unnatural accumulation of adrenaline). Are the scientists slyly inserting a factor in the research that causes these nightmares? But we know that our main character suffered from them *before* signing up...

Nothing is holy in this movie. Other test subjects develop "sleep paralysis". This is a real and genuinely frightening condition that has you awake but paralysed while experiencing the sight of shadows, ghosts, aliens and other horrors (watch "The Nightmare", a documentary shot by a director who suffers from it about other people with the same condition). It is also very rare. *All* the test subjects develop it? And should we believe that the shadows that "emerge" in the real world are the same they dream about? Maybe, but, and here is a genuine paradox, the scientists shouldn't be surprised: one explanation for what you "see" during a bout of sleep paralysis is that these horrors are a projection of your inner fears. Here, these shadows seem to be some kind of malevolent entities that... just happen to haunt people that *by chance*, have the same nightmares and happened to sign all up for the same experiment? Because the scientists aren't cackling with glee for an evil "occult" ritual of some kind well done, but genuinely baffled.

Other things thrown at the screen include a disappearing character; the frantic search of her by the protagonist only for the thing to be just forgotten; eyes that bleed for no reason at all; sleep paralysis during sex (sex paralysis?); a magical disappearing-reappearing cellphone that maybe has... powers; dreaming while sleepwalking (contrary to popular belief, sleepwalkers don't act out their dreams: when you dream your brain paralyses you *exactly* to avoid involuntary damage to your body; this is the source of the common dream when you try to run away from something but your legs don't answer); no curiosity about the real mystery: how are we able to sleepwalk and avoid damage to ourselves?; evil shadows in a forest that do... "something bad"; a character growing canines (I'm serious); and an ending which is such a stunning cop-out that, I guess, was written out of desperation, not as a real endgame - because there never was one.

"Come True" is a movie made by someone who discovered the wonderful world of sleep and the interesting (and disquieting) phenomena surrounding it - and that throw everything at the screen (along with a dictionary of Jungian terms) hoping that something suck. The result was a mess. True nightmares have more logic than this, just ask David Lynch.

Philip k Dick book/short story type of sci fi

[rsvp321 · 8 April 2021]

Best dream sequences I've ever seen in video. Some bits along the way hint at the ending, but very discretely.

Slow moving, but definitely worth the time.

what kind of film did I just see?

[dromasca · 8/10 · 9 January 2021]

'Come True' (2020) based on a story by Daniel Weissenberger and written, directed and filmed by Anthony Scott Burns is one of those films about which at the end of watching you wonder 'what did I actually see?'. It is, of course, a horror film, following many of the rules of the genre, at least until a certain point. Above all, however, it is an oneiric film, a dream on several levels: because at the objective level the script tells a story about sleep, dreams and especially nightmares, because of the way it is made and filmed, and because the final explanation that provides a kind of key to what we have seen, a key that we can accept or not. Of course, I will say nothing about the end, so as not to commit the sin of revealing anything that would rob the viewers of the pleasure of surprise. I will only say that this film has good chances to please both the horror genre lovers and those who look for smart movies without minding if they are strange.

The film debuts as a psychological thriller about coping with sleep disorders, chronic fatigue, and the nightmares caused by them. Sarah ( Julia Sarah Stone) is a college student who spends her nights in parks or at her friend's house, in restless sleep, haunted by nightmares. The proposal to participate in a scientific study of sleep disorders, which provides her with a comfortable bed at night, seems to answer exactly the problems she faces. But what exactly is this clinic, with its immaculate white walls and slightly retro-technical monitoring devices? What is the purpose of the research? The nightmares return, they amplify, the worlds of dream and seemingly objective reality begin to multiply, to mix. The nightmares do not stop with the awakenings.

Why does 'Come True' attract and captivate? First I would mention the cinematography. The representation of dreams, including nightmares, has a rich tradition in the history of the film from Buñuel and Hitchcock to mention two illustrious predecessors. The solution to visualising the dreams proposed by Anthony Scott Burns is not looking for the spectacular but for the psychological impact - his dreams are dark and cloudy, just as we feel when we have a bad dream. The lead actress, Julia Sarah Stone, creates a fantastic role. I rarely throw superlatives, but here I can't help but notice that she is also perfectly distributed physically, and that her expressiveness is at the Academy Awards level. At the age of 23, she proves that she has a ton of talent but also experience, with 38 films in her filmography already listed by IMDB. Compared to her, the other interpretations fade, including that of Landon Liboiron, in the role of the researcher in the sleep study clinic who provides support to the heroine in critical moments. I also liked the ending, although I read it being criticised by other commentators. I think it has the great quality of not trying to explain everything we saw, leaving us to keep thinking and asking questions. Just as intense dreams continue to accompany us after waking up. Recommended viewing.

Imperfectly compelling

[ebeckstr-1 · 7/10 · 9 July 2021]

Wow can I understand the mixed reviews after watching this film. I come down on the thumbs up side, partly because of the audaciousness of the script and the pacing, and the clever and well managed homages and allusions to 80s science fiction cinema.

Regarding the pacing, one of the most common criticisms of this movie appears to be that it is "slow" or "boring." In my viewing experience it is deliberately paced, which is not the same thing, and part of what makes it a mesmerizing, dreamlike experience. The somber, atmospheric score adds to this effect. Come True is a curtain blowing in the nightime breeze, in slow motion.

The other main criticism of Come True (a cool title for this particular movie) is how it ends - what is revealed behind the curtain of dreams. The conclusion is unexpected, to say the least, but ultimately, again, I liked it for the sheer audaciousness of it.

There are numerous allusions to classic sci-fi movies of the 1980s. I think Come True has about as much eye symbolism as Blade Runner. In one scene there's a poster of Schwarzenegger from the first Terminator movie, in his famous sunglasses, and one of the secondary characters wears gigantic spectacles clearly reminiscent of Tyrell's in Blade Runner. There is another dramatic homage to the Blade Runner eye symbolism, too, later in the film, but I don't want to give anything away. The plot consciously incorporates aspects of Dreamscape and Brainstorm as well.

All of that is especially interesting if you're a fan of '80s science fiction, but it also somehow heightens the dreamlike quality of Come True. Movies are inherently dreamlike, and almost literally like watching someone else's lucid dreams. It's therefore fitting that this film's tapestry of subconscious and unconscious imagery should be dyed in cinematic references.

As I'm writing this review I'm realizing that, despite its flaws - including what I feel is an unnecessary and eye rolling plot development exactly 2/3 of the way through - I like this movie quite a bit. I don't usually write such long reviews, so that's a reflection of how compelling I found the experience.

sleepy time

[ferguson-6 · 5/10 · 11 March 2021]

Greetings again from the darkness. Anyone who has experienced recurring nightmares understands how they impact not just the time you are asleep, but all waking hours as well. Anthony Scott Burns is the writer-director-cinematographer and is working from a story by Daniel Weissenberger. The film is blend of science fiction and horror, and Burns excels in creating an atmosphere of dread upfront.

Burns kicks things off by immersing us in the dark, troubling dream of high school student Sarah (Julia Sarah Stone, "The Killing"). She wakes up not in her bed at home, but instead wrapped in a sleeping blanket on a local playground. Sarah prefers to sleep in a park or at a friend's house, rather than at her own home for reasons we can infer. Desperate for sleep and rest, she answers an advertisement for a sleep study at the university.

Based on the cars, movie posters, and tech equipment, the film is set in the late 1980s or early 1990s. Even the synth music is of the era, courtesy of Electric Youth and Burns' own Pilotpriest. The music mirrors the film in that it's superb in the beginning, and less effective in the second half. The blue-gray color palette and icy cold weather perfectly complement the unorthodox sleep study, and those who are running it. Jeremy/Riff (Landon Liboiron, TRUTH OR DARE, 2018) is the creepiest while looking like a bearded Harry Potter, though it takes a while to unravel his story. Also present is Dr. Meyer (Christopher Heatherington), who does little more than quietly observe. Allowing this character to play a bigger role could have benefited the story.

The mystique of dreams is what's at play here, and the blinking monitors and concerned look of the scientists all serve their purpose. Unfortunately, it's the dreams that let us down. The shadow man associated with sleep paralysis is on display here, but his glowing eyes amongst the abundance of gray lacked the eerie imagery need to capture my imagination. In fact, I found the dream sequences to drag, even after the first one got my hopes up.

It's highly likely that Burns is a fan of filmmaker David Cronenberg, and we do appreciate the homage to Stanley Kubrick and Rodney Ascher. However, to be truly effective, a sci-fi/horror film, especially one dabbling in pseudo-psychology, must have more than the right look. Lead actress Julia Sarah Stone brings a unique appearance to the role, and she's the reason I stuck with it until the end. My gut feeling is this could have been a world class short film, and it seems probable that I missed a deeper message here. But neither of those was enough to overcome my feeling of boredom during the film's second half. COME TRUE will open in select theaters, digital platforms, and cable VOD on March 12, 2021 courtesy of IFC Midnight

This is an impressive movie with amazing ambient music!

[UniqueParticle · 10/10 · 10 September 2022]

Starts off with some dark images in a bizarre setting and focuses on an adorable girl named Sarah that experiences horrifying nightmares. A little bit in Sarah finds a way to experiment in a company to potentially help her or try to understand what's going on. Come True is a very underrated gem in the horror genre, it should be praised! The acting is exceptional, imagery is glorious, the music is so damn good, I'm in awe of this movie and would highly recommend it to anyone. I'm surprised this has a 5.9 at least deserves a 7 on most anything. I sorta see how people wouldn't enjoy Come True but it's truly well made, I hope overtime it becomes a cult classic.

Slow burn movie with a really bad ending

[siderite · 6/10 · 12 September 2021]

So the entire film is about this girl who almost ran away from home who enlists in a sleep study. They monitor her brainwaves on trippy CRT monitors from the 90s and transform them into images to see what she is dreaming about. More or less everything makes sense until the very end, when the spell is broken and you realize that it is all a pretentious movie with "a message" that you care nothing about at all. I don't want to spoil it, because many people seem to have enjoyed the dream mysticism and symbolism of which the film is full of. Myself, I was intrigued by the obvious plot and was severely disappointed by the ending.

All in all the acting is decent, the pacing is slow, but consistent and the dream sequences, even if they look like something made in a few days on a 3D designer, are pretty cool. What I disliked profoundly is the bait and switch at the end.

If you want to enjoy it, take it as a personal project of the writers to express something personal, like Phantasm was, and give it a try. Just know in advance that nothing truly scary or active will happen and that the film is slowly, very slowly, getting to its point by avoiding it most of the film.

Too slow, too long, too directionless

[kngitrm · 1/10 · 28 April 2021]

The whole movie is unbelievably slow. Instead of setting a mood, it just made the whole experience a boring one. There is a 10 minute shot of her slowly walking. Every pan is excruciatingly slow. There are shots that are repeated over and over again and nothing new happens in them except the music gets inexplicably more tense - despite nothing happening on the screen. If you cut out the grainy images of shadowy figures, her slowly walking places for no reason, and the scenes that were just the same 3 second shots looped over and over again, the movie would have been half the length.