None of the summaries I've seen gave a good idea of the movie, but the story is not really important anyway. Lots of interesting ideas but mostly very interesting characters, that's what drives the film. The jazz maestro, drug addict, not really caring for much in life. The old killer, with his issues with the new business of his boss. The fact that they're played by the same actor is a little confusing, sometimes you're not really sure which one you're looking at. But I suppose it's on purpose, specially with the mixed drug or injuries induced mixed shared dream sequence.

Story is mainly driven by the killer's conscience case and his desire to save children, but the story itself is not really the interesting part, despite being only 90 something minutes it felt quite long. But along the way there are a lot of very good scenes. Pawn shop hold up sequence is extremely good for instance.

The strange powerful people of the world, gathering for a party at the castle, and primarily the countess and her weird vampire brother add a sense that we're not really in our world, though probably not that far. The brother is a quite original and fun character, beautifully portrayed. Every scene he's in is good.

In the end, I got mixed feelings about this. Not sure if it would have been better with an improved story, or if it was intentionally done this way to accentuate the characters' value. Worth seeing at least once anyway.

‘Dreamland’ is an extremely strange movie, and that strangeness will either endear it to you or alienate you. Equal parts violent, tragic, comic, silly and surreal, your best bet is to go limp and let the madcap moments of the film wash over you.
- Jake Watt

Read Jake's full article...
https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-dreamland-surrealist-noir