Per Aspera Ad Astra

Give people a technology that lets them build and inhabit any dream they choose, and the trouble will not announce itself loudly. That is the sly premise of this near-future science-fiction piece, where a product called Good Dreams delivers exactly what it promises while a crisis assembles quietly in the background. The film is less interested in the gadgetry than in the appetite behind it, in what we would ask for if nothing ever said no.

It rewards viewers who like speculative fiction with ideas at the center and a slow fuse rather than an action beat every ten minutes. Across its hour and fifty the atmosphere leans cool and unsettling, with unease accumulating instead of exploding. Fans of cerebral dystopias and stories about desire dressed up as convenience will be right at home, while anyone wanting straightforward thrills may find it patient. Watch it when you are in the mood to be quietly disturbed.