Dreamer isn’t the kind of movie to obfuscate the message. If anything, Dreamer is all about the message, and how that message makes you feel. But the movie, shot in a way that makes it feel immediate and personal, still manages to be mostly about hope, even as it takes you on a journey that is about as harrowing as they come.
The movie, written, directed, and produced by Mohit Ramchandani and starring Ari Lopez, Renata Vaca, Alfredo Casto, Paulina Gaitan, Jason Patric, and Golden Globe® Nominee Diego Calva (Babylon), is inspired by the true story of the El Monte sweatshop raid and thought it’s not necessary to come into it knowing any part of the story – the fact that this tale is actually based on real events seems important to point out. Whatever you’re feeling about what you’re seeing, this isn’t just a fabricated story designed to send a message. Someone actually went through it.
Not to diminish the power of storytelling – because we learn, feel, and understand through entertainment, but there’s a certain sense of protectiveness that comes from getting invested in a story like the one presented in Dreamer, and finding out it’s a true story. It’s human nature to care, and the movie banks on that. It bets that you will care if they just show you this boy, Jesus, and his dreams, before taking them all away.
Dreamer is, above all things, about Jesus, about what he has, what he loses, and what still remains to him at the end of the journey – but it’s also about the things we hold onto when we have nothing else. Jesus’ circumstances are inhumane, and the realities of human trafficking are, in many ways, about stripping people of just that, their humanity. Merchandise that can make you a profit, not real people. But through it all, that Jesus can hold onto not just to that thing that makes him human, but also that hope that things can someday get better, is a testament to the strength of the human spirit.
And yet, Dreamer is not just a story that glorifies people’s perseverance through pain, it’s a story about bad circumstances and how people do their best to survive. It’s also a story about how, sometimes, you draw strength from other people – a message that feels both poignant and timely.
The movie is carried, almost entirely, by the strength of the performances, particularly that of Ari Lopez, who makes Jesus not just a vehicle for the story, but a living, breathing boy who deserves more – but there’s something to be said about the directing choices of Mohit Ramchandani, who at times takes you so close to Jesus that there’s a sense that this story isn’t happening to him, it’s happening to you, you’re just caught watching it in the third person.
It’s easy to dismiss a movie like Dreamer as trauma porn, and it is, at times, incredibly hard to watch. But it’s not pain for the sake of it, instead, the story is framed around the good parts, the possibilities, and the imagination of a boy who just wanted to play soccer. And the parts that are hard to watch, well, they are the reality a movie like this one is meant to shine a light on, not a storytelling crutch to make characters grow. That makes a world of difference.
Thoughtfully presented, beautifully acted, and emotional in the best of ways, Dreamer is the kind of movie that stays with you – and hopefully, the kind that makes you think about the injustices going on in this world right now, and how you can help.
Dreamer will make its World Premiere tomorrow, during the closing night of the Mammoth Film Festival.
