Come True is kind of beautiful, dreamy, surreal, and a little bit frustrating in how it doesn’t quite hang together. I enjoyed it though and I want to make the pieces fit because I think there is a way to read the movie that works. I was about to say “makes sense” but I think the movie is operating on a dream logic that doesn’t require logic… which is cool, but there could ultimately be some semblance of cohesion that the movie might just be missing. Though I’ll think about it in the days to come, that’s for sure.

The film is about a high school student who has, for unknown reasons, moved out of her home. She sleeps where she can – at a playground, at a friend’s house, in class, etc. Until she learns about a sleep study that will pay her good money and give her a place to crash for a few months. But the scientists have hidden goals and soon things start to come apart in her life. And who is the mysterious dark shape haunting her dreams?

This movie feels like a dream… it operates with a dreamy score, subtle imagery and shot composition, and it generates a sense of ongoing dread that really appealed to me. This isn’t a jump scare movie – it’s the kind of flick that operates just below the surface, giving you a sense of unease. But it can also be oddly beautiful and surreal.

Oddly though it weirdly only operates half on the dream logic I expected. For as surreal and ethereal as it feels, I think too much of it is a little too grounded and sometimes too focused on the scientists. For example, there’s a sequence of someone sleepwalking which has a sense of reality to it… but also the distance travelled seems unreal, dreamlike. In that these two tones didn’t always mesh was unsatisfying to me. Though maybe that’s just me.

Otherwise, I love the dark dreamy imagery and the focus on sleep states that many of us experience. If you’ve ever had repeating dreams, night terrors, or waking sleep paralysis, much of this movie will be talking directly to you. I loved the revelations of what the scientists were studying and the implications it might (or might not) have.

And the soundtrack is gorgeous. It’s a new agey, synth-heavy dreamlike score that fits (and generates) the mood of the film perfectly. I immediately recognized the tune Coelacanth and was pleased at a later vocal cover of the song. It makes me want to look up the artist Electric Youth (which I’m now listening to as I type this).

There’s an ending to the movie that’s pretty divisive, it seems. I was a little annoyed at it myself… though not just because of what it suggests. It was partly also because the movie seemed to be jerking me back and forth with different, seemingly completely separate imagery and ideas. I can’t meld them together into a single concept, logically. And maybe that’s the point. But it’s certainly possible this ending will cause people to throw popcorn at the screen.

I enjoyed this movie but wish I enjoyed it more. It was there under my skin much of the time and only occasionally lost me. And I suspect there’s a key to making things fit again with some more thought. And, hell, having to put any thought into any movie is an achievement unto itself.

Score: 82