Dream Agency directed by Andy Field and Deborah Pearson, and produced by Forest Fringe is an independent feature film about Janet who travels to a remote island to hire a strange agency that re-enacts people's dreams, which she later becomes a part of.
While she gets her dream re-enacted, she becomes captivated by one of the agency actresses, Beatrice. So, the audience is not sure what it is that Janet seeks; a reciprocation to her desire, a further understanding of herself or the unique mission of the agency. Maybe all three.
This is a highly ambiguous work and the meaning behind it is, as the directors said at London Independent Film Festival (LIFF), ‘what you make of it.’ While this point of view adds personalisation to the film, it makes this too arbitrary to the point that one questions what the purpose of this film is.
However, one clear topic of Dream Agency is the disappointment in something that appears to be magical that turns out to be just another thing ruined by capitalism, greed and ego. That disillusionment and the feeling of being lost are highly accessible to the wider audience. It is presented in an aesthetic, yet brutally honest way. The island setting also creates a sense of isolation and self-searching which makes it an excellent choice.
All of the cast has done a great job, specifically Vera Chok, playing Janet, and Gemma Paintin, playing Beatrice. Especially the character of Beatrice seemed to be multidimensional, though we were not allowed to discover much. While I would have loved to learn more about her, the film being from the perspective of Janet, it made perfect sense to know that character as much as the observations allowed. On the other hand, the one glimpse into Beatrice’s private life without Janet fails to keep true to that purpose. It feels like there was a hesitation about how much to tell the audience about Beatrice which was not settled.
Above everything, I am a fan of the collaborative side of this film. During the Q&A session at LIFF, it is revealed that the writing of the script and the composition of the music were all done in collaboration. While Deborah Pearson came up with the character of Janet and the idea of a Dream Agency existed, the rest of the script was written together with the cast. It was also revealed that most of the speeches were written by Chris Bailey, who played Stevie in the film. The chaos of the writing process, even after everything was edited by the directors, still reflects onto the film, in parts, highly positively and in parts, a little jarringly.
To be honest, this film left me questioning how much I understood it but if you would like to accept the challenge and try to figure out what this film means to you, you would be happy to know that this film will be online soon. So, keep an eye out.
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