Elizabeth Banks shines in this stylish, retro-future thriller. While it does too much toward the end, an unforgettable twist makes Dreamquil a must-watch.
On paper, Dreamquil does not feel like anything special. We’ve seen plenty of sci-fi films tackle the idea of a digital escape, but this one hits a bit closer to home by focusing on the domestic claustrophobia of a life lived primarily through a lens. As an overworked mother and wife myself, I found the initial setup incredibly intriguing. The exhaustion Carol feels – that specific brand of career-mother burnout where your own home starts to feel like a cage – is captured with a raw, uncomfortable honesty. However, as the film progresses, it balances that relatability with an aesthetic that is very artsy and might leave some viewers disconnected.
The undeniable highlight of the film is Elizabeth Banks. Taking on the dual role of Carol and “Carol Two,” she manages to create two distinct personas that are eerily similar yet fundamentally different. The way she does this is very subtle, but I couldn’t look away. I wanted to yell through my screen at times, as certain things made me uncomfortable or upset.
Matching her beat for beat is John C. Reilly as her husband, Gary. He is consistently excellent in everything he does, but there’s a specific energy he brings here that feels like a spiritual successor to his role in Chicago – that “Mr. Cellophane” quality of a man who is present but somehow overlooked, or perhaps just willfully ignorant of the shifting reality around him. The chemistry between them provides the necessary emotional stakes for when the story takes its more sinister turns.
Visually, DreamQuil is a feast. I absolutely loved the futuristic retro vibe. The production design creates a world that feels both advanced and strangely dated. However, this artistic ambition is a double-edged sword. The film leans heavily into its indie-art-house vibe, which has the potential to turn a lot of viewers off.
For such a relatively short runtime (just 82 minutes), the movie begins to drag significantly towards the end. The story is intriguing and captivating enough to keep your attention for the first two acts, but it eventually falls into the trap of the multiple ending syndrome.
Dreamquil‘s narrative is somewhat predictable – until it isn’t. There is one major twist that is handled with incredible precision. It’s the kind of reveal that recontextualizes everything you’ve seen up to that point, and for a moment, the film is fantastic.
The problem is that the movie doesn’t stop there. There is a very clear point where the credits should have rolled, but the story insists on pushing forward into territory that feels anticlimatic. By the time the final, final ending arrived, the impact of that brilliant twist had been diluted. While I appreciate the attempt to explore the consequences of Carol’s choice, the story didn’t actually need those extra beats to land its message.
DreamQuil is a fascinating, if flawed, exploration of the desire to outsource our burdens. While the themes of marital disconnect and maternal burnout are dialed up to an extreme, the core of the film is a very human story about wanting to be seen and replaced all at once. It’s a polarizing watch – many will find it too slow or overly stylized – but for the performances and the aesthetic alone, it’s a trip worth taking, even if it stays at the retreat a little too long.
About Dreamquil
Set in the not so distant future when poor air quality leads to people living mostly virtually lives. Carol is a dissatisfied career mother, struggling to find connection within her marriage to Gary and her child. With the day to day familiarity of their home and lives feeling increasingly claustrophobic, and worried she could be heading towards divorce, Carol leaps at the chance to get her life back on track by signing up for “DreamQuil”, an avant-garde digital wellness retreat.
When Carol returns home however, she discovers her family has been living with “Carol Two”, a robot the corporation sent designed to help in her absence, and things take a mysterious and sinister turn.
Dreamquil played at SXSW 2026.
