Now I’ve definitely never seen a road trip like this one before. That’s the joy of a movie like Dreams in Nightmares: using a familiar storytelling gimmick to tell a story completely unfamiliar to most of a mainstream audience. It’s always good to get out of your bubble, and see the world through different eyes, even if you have the best polyamorous living situation that’s ever existed.
That person is Z (Denee Benton). They are in a very modern relationship with Reece (Charlie Barnett), who is seeing other people in Los Angeles. She needs that incredible support, cause it’s tough times for Z and her friends: Z’s creative writing program they were teaching was cut. Z’s friends are also hurting. In New York City, Tasha (Sasha Compère) also just got laid off from her corporate job, and is having friction with roommate Lauren (Dezi Bing) who is underemployed and can’t pay full rent. Most importantly, their other friend Kel (Mars Storm Rucker) has gone off the grid, no contact. Not unusual for a few weeks from Kel, but now we’re into 2+ months territory, scaring the other 3. The trio elect to take Tasha’s car and drive to Kel’s last known residence in Iowa City, hoping they’re doing all right.
Writer director Shatara Michelle Ford takes their time really building each of the queer femme leads. The first 20 minutes establishes wonderfully complex inner lives wholly unique of one another, justifiably throwing middle fingers to all those studios who only know how to write token black stereotypes for characters. By the time Z, Tasha, and Lauren get in Tasha’s car, Ford has a wonderful base character foundation to have them start bouncing off each other. Tasha’s grounded practicality, juxtaposed against Lauren and Z’s individual specific artistic pursuits means the dialogue never feels forced, and just comes out of these characters organically, making the road trip that much more interesting to be a part of. Since this isn’t a thriller, Kel’s gonna likely show up eventually, and Ford makes sure we get just enough time with them so that when our trio sees her again, we at least know who Kel is too. Ford takes the story and turns it into a quasi Rorschach test and unending debate about dreams, art, and real life. I believe who you end up aligning with in the debates will vary widely by life experiences, the exact point Shantara Michelle Ford is trying to make. Personally, I’m team Tasha at the moment.
Ford also has fun adding a few new ideas into the road trip movie design, making fit more the story they’re trying to tell than adhere to any expected cliches of the genre. The late night bar romp is replaced by a drag poetry slam, delivered magnificently by Lauren’s friend Toni (Joss Barton), getting out some of that pent up anger towards the US’s systemic racism. My favorite section was Shantara’s “wacky character” section; for Dreams in Nightmares, the wacky character is Sabrina (Jasmin Savoy Brown), a queer femme like our leads except they’re happy to settle down in Iowa and date a white professor Jamie (Molly Bernard). The dinner sequence at Sabrina’s house had me dying laughing thanks to Brown’s unnerving Regina George energy. But Shantara Michelle Ford’s best sequence is the most expected one, where we meet Kel’s parents (played by Regina Taylor and Robert Wisdom). That scene could so easily have been a pile on onto the out of touch generational old people, but instead becomes a great character moment for our leads, who each see something different in that Kansas City house thanks to their own specific life experiences.
You feel a bit of the college film experimentation in Dreams and Nightmares as well, but it never overwhelms the wonderful core tale at its center. I can’t wait to see what Shantara Michelle Ford has up their sleeve next. I would love to see their take on a movie like Dear White People, or continue on this current route of putting black femme queer leads in all sorts of other genre movies. They’ve got the juice, and I can’t wait to taste what flavor comes out next!