{"id":2576733,"date":"2026-03-06T05:00:02","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T10:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nightmarish-cringe-a-review-of-dreams\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T05:06:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T10:06:25","slug":"nightmarish-cringe-a-review-of-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nightmarish-cringe-a-review-of-dreams\/","title":{"rendered":"Nightmarish cringe: A review of Dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnightmarish-cringe-a-review-of-dreams%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2576733&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Washington Examiner\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/remember-when-liberals-thought-corporate-speech-was-evil\/\" title=\"Remember When Liberals Thought Corporate Speech Was Evil?\">film critic<\/a> Peter Tonguette reviews the movie Dreams as a lavish but dull, genre-mashing drama that tries to blend an immigration expose, an erotic thriller, and a behind-the-scenes ballet story. He stars Jessica Chastain as Jennifer, a wealthy San Franciscan who funds a ballet academy in Mexico and becomes involved with fernando, a Mexican dancer who crosses the border illegally and enters her orbit. The film\u2019s pace is painfully slow, hampered by artful pretensions and extended, purposeless imagery\u2014such as a long opening shot of a semitruck\u2014that Tonguette argues serves style over substance. While the plot touches on immigration issues and the power dynamics between an affluent benefactor and an undocumented artist, the treatment is described as tendentious yet inert, failing to generate urgency or meaningful insight. A late twist seems to justify the relationship only to devolve into a monotonous, mood-driven finale, with politics overshadowing any dynamic drama. ultimately, the review finds Dreams disappointing, despite strong performances, and calls its chic execution and social themes insufficient to elevate the film beyond a dreary, pretentious exercise.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Nightmarish cringe: A review of &lsquo;Dreams&rsquo;<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<p>Time can move pretty slowly in dreams, but seldom as slowly as in the consistently interminable, periodically risible new movie <em>Dreams. <\/em>In an unlikely melding of genres, the movie seeks to combine the genres of an immigration expose, an erotic thriller, and a behind-the-scenes ballet drama. Jessica Chastain stars as Jennifer, a well-heeled <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/san-francisco\/\">San Franciscan<\/a> who dabbles in running her family&rsquo;s foundation, usurping U.S. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/immigration\/\">immigration laws<\/a>, and pursuing really unhealthy personal relationships. Isaac Hernandez plays Fernando, the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/mexico\/\">Mexican<\/a> dancer who, upon entering the country illegally, falls into Jennifer&rsquo;s high-toned orbit.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This might sound like a provocative or at least so-bad-it&rsquo;s-good mixture, but the result is deathly dull. The problem is that writer-director Michel Franco is intent on sapping any vitality from his material in what is for him the holy name of artiness, which for mere civilians is synonymous with tedium. Consider the opening image of a semitruck parked beside railroad tracks in what looks like the American Southwest. This shot comes before we have been introduced to any characters or even have a hold on the story. We discern, however, that the truck is in the Southwest because we have time to take in the arid surroundings and listen to the wind rustle the vegetation. In fact, we have plenty of time. The shot probably does not go on for more than a minute, but even 60 seconds of nothing still seems to go on forever. Because the prolongation of the shot tells us nothing, what point can it have but to show off its own studied deliberateness?<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/premium\/4477848\/survivor-50-wokeness-television-jeff-probst\/\">Will Survivor 50 de-woke-ify?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4481992\/big-tech-lawsuit-trump-bondi-tiktok-deal\/\">Big Tech executives sue Trump and Bondi over TikTok deal<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/business\/4482526\/paramount-ellison-cnn-cbs-warner-bros-merger\/\">Paramount CEO suggests CNN and CBS News to stay separate after Warner Bros. merger<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Eventually, we learn that the truck houses migrants who have crossed the border between Mexico and the U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-trump-needs-elon-musk-to-fire-thousands-of-bureaucrats\/\" title=\"Why Trump Needs Elon Musk To Fire Thousands Of Bureaucrats\">illegally &#038;mdash<\/a>; a horrifying sight, to be sure. Among their ranks is the ballet dancer Fernando, whose profession is not among the least of the film&rsquo;s improbabilities. Surely, for a talented performer such as Fernando, there might be a more legal, and less potentially lethal, way to get onstage in the United States? Yet even after Fernando climbs out of the dark, suffocating truck &mdash; a potent, though surely inadvertent, reminder of the profound inhumanity that results from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/republicans-celebrate-decline-in-border-arrests-under-trump-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Republicans celebrate decline in ... arrests under Trump ... Washington Examiner\">illegal crossings &#038;mdash<\/a>; the film does not pick up the pace. Looking less like an undocumented worker seeking opportunity than a refugee from an arthouse movie, Fernando wanders along a gravel path accented by sagebrush. Where is the urgency? It is hard to have sympathy for someone whose trek is presented so ponderously.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jessica Chastain and Isaac Hern&aacute;ndez in &ldquo;Dreams.&rdquo; (Greenwich Entertainment)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Fernando turns up at the digs of his benefactor-lover Jennifer, who we know is filthy rich because her kitchen is so tastefully spare and ill-stocked. The duo resumes what seems to have been their past assignations, and she orders him high-end takeout &mdash; apparently the love language of the liberal elite. Using just enough ill-defined flashbacks and fantasy sequences needed to justify the title of <em>Dreams<\/em>, the film sketches the relationship between Jennifer and Fernando in increasingly raunchy love scenes. Jennifer is alternately hostile and swoony, while Fernando swings between resentment and gratitude. &ldquo;I missed this &mdash; we should do it more often,&rdquo; he tells her over coffee while both are dressed in bathrobes, a line that seems straight out of a Colleen Hoover adaptation. Jennifer continues in the various non-job jobs she has at her various philanthropic ventures, including a ballet academy in Mexico, while Fernando catches on with a professional ballet company in San Francisco. There is much mooniness to go along with the attempts at steaminess.<\/p>\n<p>How are we expected to react to this, beyond doing a fair amount of cringing? Is the film a depiction of a roiling physical attraction in the manner of that relic of 1970s shock cinema, <em>Last Tango in Paris<\/em>? Or, more likely, are we meant to solemnly meditate on the inequitable relationship between the affluent modern aristocrat and the undocumented dancer? More than once, Fernando bemoans his dependence on Jennifer, who, in turn, does not seem consistently eager to present him as her beau among her seemingly open-minded but, spoiler alert, secretly prejudiced kith and kin. The last is a promising story thread in that it toys with exposing the superficial quality of so much liberal piousness. But even this dynamic turns out to be little more than a replay of a story at least as old as <em>Breakfast at Tiffany&rsquo;s<\/em>, with George Peppard playing a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >penurious aspiring writer unhappily receiving support<\/a> from an older lady. To this, <em>Dreams<\/em> adds the seemingly irresistible contemporary elements of border crossings, deportations, and even a few <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ice\/\">Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer characters<\/a>, but the film&rsquo;s indictment of immigration enforcement is not only tendentious but toothless next to the far more dynamic work of left-wing agitprop, <em>One Battle After Another<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/premium\/4468747\/glen-powell-how-to-make-a-killing-review\/\"><strong>KILLER MAKER: REVIEW OF &lsquo;HOW TO MAKE A KILLING&rsquo;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Fleetingly, <em>Dreams<\/em> looks like it might be turning into something slightly more rousing. When Fernando ditches Jennifer, she begins calling him nonstop with breathily delivered messages such as, &ldquo;Fernando, where are you? I&rsquo;m worried.&rdquo; Even Fernando&rsquo;s family in Mexico wonders about the inexplicable obsessiveness of his benefactor. At one point, she is told by his family to date someone her own age. At another, she is seen evilly slinking into the back of a limo following some fancy event at a San Francisco museum. Might it be too much to hope that Jennifer is a woman scorned who is descending into psychosis, a la <em>Fatal Attraction<\/em>? Chastain has compellingly played ruthless before. Hernandez is not an unappealing or entirely ineffective leading man. The film should have leaned into its tawdriness, not its sanctimony and certainly not its pretentiousness. Politics, as usual, ruins everything.<\/p>\n<p>Alas, this is too much to hope. Instead, the film depends on a third-act plot twist that reveals Jennifer&rsquo;s past kindnesses toward Fernando as counterfeit, and which Fernando uses as a pretext to exact a kind of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/no-bail-for-pennsylvania-man-with-explosives-in-suitcase\/\" title=\"No Bail for Pennsylvania Man With Explosives in Suitcase\">slow-burning<\/a> revenge on Jennifer. &ldquo;Slow-burning,&rdquo; though, is the operative word: Even when the increasingly volatile pair seem close to being at each other&rsquo;s throats, the film&rsquo;s chicly antiseptic atmosphere &mdash; the SMEG refrigerator, the orange slices on which Jennifer nibbles before falling into a raunchy reverie &mdash; suggests an advertisement for housewares more than an actual thriller. The film must imagine its denouement as some sort of commentary on oppressor and oppressed, but mostly, it&rsquo;s just monotonous.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Peter Tonguette is the film critic for the <\/em>Washington Examiner <em>magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dreams review: slow, odd genre blend; Chastain stars<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2691,"featured_media":2576734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/LA.Film_.Dreams.031126.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[73299,15044,75197,50916],"class_list":["post-2576733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-cringe-2","tag-dreams","tag-nightmarish","tag-review-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/LA.Film_.Dreams.031126.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2576733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2691"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2576733"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2576733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2576737,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2576733\/revisions\/2576737"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2576734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2576733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2576733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2576733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}