Come True is a well-constructed film. Creative, mysterious, gripping, brilliant. Very good, to the point of raising concerns, if like many other high concept shows, this film will have difficulty summarizing everything, and then lead to a disappointing conclusion. This concern unfortunately occurs, although it does not erase the fact that Come True is one of the few horrors that has succeeded in provoking real horror.
After the initial 8-10 minutes that move very quickly and tend to be rushed (not without reason), we finally get a clear picture of the protagonist. Sarah (Julia Sarah Stone), an 18-year-old teenager, who due to a bad relationship with her mother, chooses every night to sleep outside, or stay at a friend’s house. Sarah’s sleep was never restful, due to a strange nightmare that led her into a dark room, where a mysterious shadowy figure with glowing eyes seemed to be waiting for her. Top Movie Site
The sleep disturbance prompted him to register as a participant in an experiment. Besides for the sake of money, the process also sounds easy. He just had to sleep, while the researchers monitored his condition through various tools. The first day went well. Sarah had slept soundly after a long time, while judging by their response, it was implied that the experiment yielded a positive result (at this point we don’t know what the result is yet). Until Sarah noticed some oddity.
An unknown man (later we know named Jeremy, played by Landon Liboiron) follows him, but it’s nothing compared to the fear that settles when the shadowy figure in Sarah’s dream slowly begins to appear in the real world. Sarah’s feelings were conveyed by Anthony Scott Burns, who directed and wrote the script, set the camera, and edited the film himself.
The dream world that we often visit, becomes an extraordinary visual achievement. The precise CGI, coupled with Burns’ vision of “nightmare”, creates a creepy, yet eye-catching scene. The term “hellish” might be worth mentioning. When I have a bad dream, even if it’s subconscious, I often feel scared before the terror really hits. An anxiety over something that is not yet clear, but is believed to be ambushing. The feeling was successfully translated, by Burns. Best Movie
The more often Sarah (and us) visit the dream world, the more slowly the shadow’s form begins to unfold, and the higher the level of anxiety Come True gives off. While many alternative horrors have a tendency to pursue elegance but instead end up eliminating terror, Come True, even though it tries to “beautify” its terror, is able to maintain the most essential element of horror films, namely to incite fear. The atmosphere is so strong, with one or two jump scares that take the principle of “quality over quantity”.
Come True cultivates dreams through an approach that contains surrealism, while the storytelling is thick with sci-fi colors. If David Lynch tucked in elements of pseudo science in his work, maybe the result would be like this. Burns’ script then raises the question, is the shadow creature’s terror a manifestation of “common fear”, or is it the work of an invisible entity that controls everything from behind the scenes?
Either way, it’s not really a problem. In essence, reaching the middle of its duration, Come True promises an extraordinary creative narrative, full of mystery that is effective in attracting the curiosity of the audience. But as I mentioned in the opening paragraph, of the many options, Burns actually took the most disappointing path through a twist at the end of the duration.
It’s true that the twist is able to justify the hasty movement and the sense of being forced at some points of the plot (including when Sarah, just from seeing the stalker’s one dream, ends up falling for her). The Jungian Archetypes (The Persona, The Anima/Animus, The Shadow, The Self) written on the screen also explain their meaning. Even the twist still contains something to convey (the process when reality and the subconscious intersect). But compared to what was promised and potentially achieved, the conclusion is a cliché choice, full of simplification, and of course, disappointing. Movie Review
