Dreams Film Review: Imbalance of Power

Michel Franco’s Dreams is an ice-cold and ultimately cruel quasi-thriller that benefits from strong performances and relevant themes.

The movie starts with a tense sequence in which we see illegal Mexican immigrant Fernando (real-life ballet dancer Isaac Hernández) crossing the border inside a truck, and then escaping in order to get to San Francisco. There, he enters a mansion that, it turns out, belongs to millionaire philanthropist Jennifer McCarthy (Jessica Chastain), who has been his lover for some time. She then arrives at her home, sees him sleeping on her bed, completely naked, and they immediately have sex. Clearly, there’s something passionate and almost primal going on between them.

Alas, their relationship cannot be. She may be in charge of a family project that helps Latino immigrants in the States, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any lines she cannot cross, as her father (and the actual owner of her wealth), Michael McCarthy (Marshall Bell), so eloquently puts it. Thus, Fernando realises she’s embarrassed by people seeing her with him, which compels him to try and find a way to become a ballet dancer in the U.S. without her help. That he accomplishes, but of course, Jennifer isn’t happy about it. And unfortunately, her unhappiness (and even her jealousy) brings with them certain consequences.

Watching Dreams is an interesting experience because it doesn’t resort to simplifying its story and making it about good guys and bad guys. Fernando is, of course, its de facto protagonist and a true underdog; someone who simply wants to make his art in peace and is trying to do so in the Land of the (Supposed) Free. And Jennifer is the one who holds all the power and privilege; she may seem like a do-gooder, but as the story unfolds, it becomes easier and easier to realise that she may not be helping the poor immigrants from the kindness of her heart.

Consider, for example, that she’s been travelling to Mexico for months to supervise the ballet academy she sponsors, but doesn’t speak a single word of Spanish. This results in an uncomfortable scene in which she has to communicate with Fernando’s parents using her phone’s translation app. Or the fact that she wants to use her money to help Latinos and even have sex with one of them, but doesn’t want to be seen with them. She’s the kind of person who believes money can solve everything, and wants to make a difference… but not so much that she’d lose all the privileges she’s always had.

On the other hand, Fernando starts the story as a sort of archetype: that of the poor, attractive and honest immigrant who wants to find a better future in the States. And he might actually be all that, but especially by the end, the script reveals a darker side of Fernando that, unfortunately, relates to stereotypes some racists might have of us Latinos. It’s all very complex: Dreams is told from a very Latino perspective, with Franco being a Mexican filmmaker and all, showing the way, for example, Latinos are exoticised and fetishised by some Americans and Europeans. But particularly due to the way it ends, it doesn’t seem to believe that much in Fernando, treating him like someone who, unfortunately, resorts to doing something horrific in a vengeful way.

Moreover, Franco’s cold and distant style is both Dreams’ secret weapon and one of the reasons it doesn’t fully work. On a positive note, it does give the film a very particular style and tone, helping the viewer see the lives of these two characters from a distance. It also feels coherent with Jennifer’s ice-cold characterisation. But on a negative note, it cancels most of the story’s emotional power, making the audience feel completely numb towards pretty much everything that happens. Even the sex scenes, while raw and animalistic, feel clinical, which is both interesting and ineffective.

Despite its flaws, though, Dreams is still worth watching due to Chastain and Hernández’s potent performances and the way the script deconstructs the American dream. Even though Fernando is a brilliant and talented guy, and he goes through a lot in order to cross the border, he is still used and manipulated and ultimately destroyed by the “gringos” who were supposedly there to help him. And even though Jennifer is allegedly trying to do good, by the end, she shows her true (and ugly) colours. Much like the lives of immigrants in the States, Dreams is messy and imperfect and a little depressing, but definitely interesting.

Michel Franco’s Dreams will be released in US theatres on February 27, 2026.