MVD On Demand: Dreamover (2021) - Reviewed

Images courtesy of MVD Visual

You’ve probably never heard of first-time Russian actor-writer-director Roman Olkhovka or his new science-fiction infused existential romantic drama Dreamover, only just now creeping out onto streaming platforms (albeit English dubbed on Vudu).  And that’s okay because the Moscow set and based picture turned out to be a sweet and heartfelt little answer of sorts to the recent slew of romantic science-fiction spoken of the same breath as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Altered States, Vanishing Waves or more recently the Russian psychological drama Hypnosis. 
 
Though the film is currently only being slated as a streaming release in the US despite critical acclaim, however you wind up tracking this down to watch, it winds up being one of the more emotionally involved date movies stoking elements of youthful longing for a better past.  While blurring the lines of fantasy and reality to the point where the saga becomes interpretive rather than necessarily literal, the film sits somewhere between the existential yearnings of Charlie Kaufman and such independently young actor-director driven coming-of-age romantic works as Alex Wolff’s The Cat and the Moon.
 
Middle-aged loner Dmitriy (Ilya Chepyrev) withers away in solitude in his apartment when recurring nightmares of being submerged in a large body of water begin haunting his sleep and trigger insomnia.  Desperate for a good night’s rest, he happens upon an advertisement for an experimental neurological treatment involving what looks like a handheld internet modem that broadcasts a signal intended to filter out bad dreams with pleasant happy ones.  The doctor’s office, it should be noted, shares that same nuts-and-bolts makeshift look as the aforementioned Eternal Sunshine which is clearly an inspiration. 

 
After one night of sleeping with the device on at his bedside, however, it triggers buried memories of his former teenage self (played by director Roman Olkhovka) and a fleeting summer romance he had with a beautiful young woman named Masha (Angelina Savchenko).  Initially pleased with the results as it manages to reunite Dmitry with an old pal named Max (Sergey Kuznetsov) which also reignites interest in his aging guitar, the sleeping device quickly becomes a problem when he starts experiencing all the highs and lows of his short-lived relationship with Masha, reminding him of painful emotions buried deeply so long ago.  There’s a subset of rules pertaining to the dream world and the real one which Dmitriy decides to break at the risk of his own psychological stability in pursuit of love.

 
A taut little lo-fi indie lensed on digital by four cinematographers Leo Giller, Olkhovka himself, Nikita Yefirmov (also the film’s producer) and and Dmitriy Zalisky, Dreamover though derivative of the aforementioned sci-fi romantic works manages to find footing in its kaleidoscopic vision of modern Moscow through the eyes of someone in love.  Take for instance all of the present-day sequences involving a middle-aged Dmitriy feeling sorry for himself and his depressing existence.  The camera gazes out the window to look at snowfall on the city in bleak, somber monochromatic tones.  But then as Dmitriy drifts into dreamland, the memories of his youth are bright, lush and colorful.  The disparity between the two states of consciousness is exemplified beautifully on a purely visual level.  The score by Guy Andrews is also a suitably mournful score that comes alive with happiness at the high points of the young couple’s romantic fling.

 
Initially the film centers around an elderly Ilya Chepyrev rolling in and out of bed with half-lit depressed eyes staring out his high-rise apartment window as he saunters from place to place.  Only after being able to fall asleep without thinking of drowning does his demeanor change and the film starts drifting through his dreams into the past anchored by Roman Olkhovka and Angelina Savchenko.  Olkhovka’s character sports a T-shirt that reads ‘Hollywood: Where Everybody is a Star’ and at one point in the film sings two songs for his budding love interest fully in English, suggesting a filmmaker keen on making an eventual international splash on the Western film stage.  For a first-time actor, Olkhovka is quite good and conveys a boyish charm and yearning for the girl he’s trying to woo.  Also strong in her screen debut is Angelina Savchenko as a sophisticated young woman trying to make a career for herself, a life decision at odds with her potential new beau.

 
Though we’ve been down this romantic dramatic science-fiction road before, Dreamover and its creator Olkhovka still manage to turn over an affecting little date movie fans of international cinema, love stories and tales of trying to make peace with your past.  While sadly only being rolled out on digital platforms, this panoramic widescreen dance between intentionally dulled monochrome and radiant almost tasty colors will tug at some viewers’ heartstrings and more than makes for a good date movie to snuggle up on the couch with your respective partner.  More than anything, it proudly shows the bright and shining promise of a new global filmmaking talent with his startlingly confident acting and directorial debut. 

--Andrew Kotwicki