Starring Margot Robbie, who is also a producer, it tells the story of Eugene, a young man who will meet criminal Allison Wells, during the thirties, in a land hit by the Dust Bowl.
What is the plot of Dreamland?
In a town in deep America, an area devastated by the great drought of the 1930s, whose phenomenon was called "Dust Bowl", lives young Eugene, with his mother Olivia, his younger sister Phoebe and his stepfather George Evans, who is a police officer in the town. In the midst of poverty and the danger of losing his land, Eugene takes refuge in reading detective stories. The routine of his life will change when news spreads that a dangerous bank robber named Allison Wells, for whose head there is a handsome reward of ten thousand dollars, may be hiding in the area. Eugene wants to find her to collect the reward, and destiny will put her on the road, but he will immediately be attracted to this dangerous thief. Love will be stronger than the reward, uniting their lives in an adventure marked by tragedy from the first moment.
The script written by Nicolaas Zwart has direct references to the films that inspired the screenwriter. Bonny and Clyde, Days of Heaven and Badnlands, the latter by Terrence Malik, are films that we will remember when we see Dreamland. Both for its setting and the type of story it tells, Nicolas Zwart has clearly been inspired by stories he has seen and liked. The screenwriter has previously written a short film and an episode of the Riversale series, and Dreamland is his first film script produced and brought to the big screen.
The film is directed by another young filmmaker, Miles Joris-Peyrafitte. The film becomes a bet for young talents of the seventh art, who have the opportunity to express their ideas, which are influenced by other great filmmakers. It is undeniable that Miles Joris-Peyrafitte admires the style of Terrence Malik. Some scenes evoke Malik's style, something that some film experts call bad imitation, but I think the opposite. This young director is only influenced by one style of cinema, but he has enough talent to put his own ideas on the table.
This is the second film directed by Miles Joris-Peyrafitte. His first film is from 2016, called "As You Are", which he co-wrote with Madison Harrinson. That film was screened in the official competition section of the San Sebastian festival and participated in the Sundance Festival, where it received the special jury award as a dramatic film. The filmmaker is currently working on the film adaptation of the British comic book Tank Girl.
The ability to create beautiful images in the midst of a desolate environment, full of poverty and decadence, is one of the best aspects of the film. The story takes place in an area suffering a great drought due to a strange meteorological phenomenon, but with the talent of the director of photography, Lyle Vincent, who has worked in more than fifteen films, among the most recent, Bad Education and has been awarded the Heritage Award, from the American Society of Cinematographers.
What was the Dust Bowl?
It was a meteorological phenomenon that caused great disasters, especially in the United States. The phenomenon extended from the Gulf of Mexico to the air in Canada. It occurred during the 1930s, precisely at the time of the Great American Depression. In this wikipedia article there is more information about that terrible disaster: link
By placing the story in that historical context, it injects more strength into the narrative and the main characters, two lost souls in the midst of a crisis, two people with apparently different lives, but both trapped within the same limits that have been imposed on them.
Allison Wells is a beautiful woman who decided to walk the path of crime. She has dedicated herself to being a bank robber, she has known the love of one of her accomplices, who ended up dead in the last robbery. She is a truly dangerous woman, but deep down she knows that she is on the road of no return and she is clinging to escape to Mexico, behind a freedom that she will never be able to obtain.
Eugene Evans, whose father John Baker left home for Mexico, when he was a child. He feels empty and strange in that piece of land where he lives. He also wants to go to Mexico, to find his father, who, for him, is still alive. Eugene wants to be free and master of his destiny.
When Eugene meets Allison, he will awaken in him not only desire and love. She will be the person who will give him that impulse, that will fill him with courage, to finally make a decision that was always there, in his head, but that he never dared to take a step forward. Between the two characters, love will emerge. For her, it is a young man with whom she will be able to redeem her guilt for the death of a girl in her last bank robbery. For him, she represents the happiness that he can live by her side, in the sea, something he has never seen.
They escape together, living a few brief moments of love, which will be the most important of their lives. Meanwhile, Eugene's stepfather, along with two other men from the village, will be behind them, to hunt him down and collect the reward that will be distributed and means that they will be able to save their homes and lands.
A little love story, between a young man who wants to escape from the life he leads in that village in the middle of nowhere and an experienced woman, an expert criminal who in the end will feel something for that boy who saved her. But these stories can never have a happy ending, tragedy will always be upon them.
Margot Robbie is one of the actresses of the moment, who became known in the film The Wolf of Wall Street, is now a Hollywood superstar. She plays Allison Wells, the criminal protagonist of the story. That beautiful thief who stole Eugene's heart. How can you not fall in love with a thief with Margot Robbie's face? Anyone ends up completely enchanted by that incredible beauty.
The actress is not only a beautiful face, she is a good actress, who has demonstrated this many times in other projects. In Dreamland, she becomes that thief, with enough magnetism to make us feel excited and devastated in the end.
The other great protagonist is the British actor Finn Cole, known for his roles in the series Animal Kigdom and Peaky Blinders. In Dreamland, he plays Eugene, the young fan of detective stories, who initially sets out to catch the thief, Allison, but will be the one caught by the attraction he will feel towards this woman. The young actor manages to combine very well with Margot Robbie, something important for love stories to be credible. In the end, Eugene's character is the most important, because in reality we are told his story.
The other members of the cast are Kerry Condon playing Olivia Evans, Eugene and Phoebe's mother. A woman of the time, dedicated to domestic chores and always subject to her husband's orders. I always remember this actress in the character of Octavia in the HBO series Rome. Travis Fimmel, famous for being Raganar in the series Vikings and this year he appeared in the series Raised by the Wolves. In the film he plays George Evans, Eugene's stepfather and also the town's policeman, who wants to catch the criminal and collect the reward. Children's actress Darby Camp, who worked in the series Big Little Lies, plays Phoebe, Eugene's younger sister, and Lola Kirke is the voiceover for Phoebe, who will be the narrator of her brother's story.
It should be added that Margot Robbie is not only one of the characters in the film. She is taking full control of her career and is part of the film's production team. LuckyChap Entertainment was founded by her and is one of Dreamland's production companies. With her company, she has also produced the films Birds of Prey, I, Tonya and Terminal. Not only is she a great talent on camera, but she also wants to make a name for herself in film production.
The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2019, but it wasn't until this November that Vertical made a limited release. Some digital platforms have it in their video on demand catalog.
I thought it was a good film, with great photographic work, which gives us elegant and beautiful images. Perhaps it influences that I also like these stories, set in difficult times. A criminal plot with a love story marked by tragedy. I hope that Robbie will continue his career as a producer, supporting talented young people with interesting and entertaining stories to tell us.
I liked it, I hope you did too.
My Ranking: 3/5
Trailer
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