“Somnium” Creeps into Your Hollywood Hopes and Dreams
As someone who moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of a dream, I feel within my rights to say that only foolish people move to that city. It takes a certain amount of delirium to pack up your life’s belongings and leave your little town for the chance to make it in the Hollywood lights. As they say in La La Land, though, it’s these fools and their dreams that make the art we all love. Of course, the chasm between dreams and reality is massive. There will be plenty of people who make the move out west and never find a way to close that gap. Racheal Cain’s Somnium takes place in those fragile, post-move months, when the dream feels closer and further than ever.
Gemma (Chloë Levine) has just moved to Los Angeles from what she describes as a “small town in Georgia.” We never learn the name of the town because it doesn’t matter. Gemma has come to LA to pursue her dream of being an actor. She left a boy she loved back home, Hunter (Peter Vack), and in her moments of self-doubt, remembers the unwavering faith he had in her. While waiting for auditions and good news, Gemma finds an overnight job at a sleep clinic, Somnium. She used to work the night shift at her family’s diner, so the hours are nothing new and she’ll still have afternoons free for auditions.
courtesy of Yellow Veil
Somnium promises its patients a new life through a cutting-edge, six-week program where participants are put in a dreamlike stupor and shown their dreams coming true. The purpose of the program is to embed success so deeply into the patient’s subconsciousness that when they wake up, they’re filled with the belief that they can achieve their goals. Since Somnium sounds like it would be at home in a Black Mirror episode, it’s obvious that things at the sleep clinic are not what they seem.
When Gemma arrives at the job interview, she asks, “What is it y’all do here?” Doctor Katherine Shaffer (Gillian White), the mastermind behind the Somnium program, answers, “We make dreams come true.” What Somnium offers is a shortcut to success which, if you can afford it, is enticing. The worst part about pursuing a dream is the uphill climb, yet it’s also essential to achievement. The two go hand-in-hand, for better or worse. This battle for a career in a creative field, though, is also a breeding ground for predatory people who see these young, hopeful newcomers as a group to exploit. Somnium explores this angle in an unexpected way, tying it into the work being done at the sleep clinic.
courtesy of Yellow Veil
At times, the horror aspect of the film feels unnecessary. The concept of the treatment plan is eerie enough to sustain the film, and some of the more traditional jump-scare moments detract from the atmosphere Somnium has already created. Essentially, the film explores the idea of dreams and reality. When they were together, Gemma’s ex-boyfriend Hunter floated the idea of being a musician, but quickly followed that up by saying he was probably just going to inherit his dad’s business. That’s what Somnium looks to rid humans of, that backup plan of reality at the expense of a goal. To a certain extent, you have to be willing to crash if you want to fly close to the sun. Somnium explores a means of bending reality to the whims of a person and asks what playing God in this sense does to those who take part.
In a flashback, Hunter asks Gemma if she ever grieves for the lives she won’t get to live. Somnium allows people the chance to pursue those lives without the friction that causes them to pick up and move back to their small towns in Georgia. Ambition is what fuels us and ruins us. It’s the difference between a hearth and a fleeting blaze. It’s knowing when to call it quits and when to go to one more audition. Somnium is an unsettling look at the facade of Los Angeles and the way it can be molded to make or break a person’s spirit.
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