I have just finished watching an independent film written, directed, and produced by Eoin Macken. I've been interested in Eoin's work for a few months now, and his own projects, which he is slowly releasing for fans to see are incredible.
Dreaming For You is no different. I was unable to watch it via the site he was using, because it cost money, and I am unemployed. I was going to continue writing this story I started last night, but having seen on YouTube that he had posted this film, amongst two others, I stopped what I was doing and watched it.
I will post the links to his various films at the end of this post.
The review follows the page break. Continue if you don't mind spoilers, or have seen the movie.
Dreaming For You is the tale of an Irish guy living in New York City, a struggling actor struggling with his inner demons. He's got a girlfriend, Kayla, who seems to be quite domineering in the bedroom, but she truly does care for him, despite what she tells her friend. She manages to get an acting agent's number for him, so he can possibly get work, because he's about to be kicked out of his crappy apartment. But Adam doesn't know what to do. He's haunted by demons that cause him to think about whether life is worth living or if he should just end it altogether.
As he walks the lonely NYC streets one night, he walks past this guy who asks him for a cigarette. Adam ignores the guy (as most people supposedly do in NYC), and continues walking. This guy is not going to be ignored. He and Adam get into an altercation, and a homeless guy keeps the other foreigner from hurting Adam any further. The homeless guy walks Adam home, and makes sure he's okay. Adam feeling charitable and thankful for that guy being there, asks him in "for a cup of tea, or a sandwich." Adam and the Homeless guy (whose name is David) develop this closeness, and David stays in Adam's apartment, sleeping on the sofa bed. It appears that Adam can open up to David which seems to be something he cannot do with Kayla.
As David and Adam's friendship grows, he distances himself further and further from Kayla. She finds out Adam never called the agent guy, and ends up sleeping with the agent as proof of how far she'll go for her boyfriend, as well as showing up Adam for ignoring her. Adam goes to an audition, and encounters who I will refer to as "Cocky blond model/actor guy", who complains about shitty auditions and switching agencies because his managers are sending him on stupid auditions. Adam just wants to clock this guy, you can tell. He ends up bailing on this audition, panicking over the voices in his head, making him feel inferior. When he gets to his apartment, he encounters Kayla. He accuses her of being guilty about something, and asks what happened to David. She has no idea who David is.
Kayla and Adam have a falling out, and go their separate ways. David ends up back at Adam's apartment, where Adam is setting up a camera. They're going to play a "Russian Roulette" of sorts, except with a sharp kitchen knife, so that acting agents will want to hire him (the knife is for the visceral aspect). David is hesitant to play this game, and wants to leave. Adam insists on David staying there, and he reluctantly stays. The game is this: they tell deep dark secrets that they've never told anyone before. The caveat is that if the other person doesn't believe the other, they cut the other with the knife. David wants to get the fuck away from Adam, but Adam makes him stay.
Adam is the first to share a secret, and asks David if he believes the story. David says he does, most likely so he doesn't have to cut Adam. Adam keeps hold of the knife, because he doesn't think David would cut him if he didn't believe his truth. Adam asks David to reveal a secret, which David says he doesn't have. Adam asks David if he slept with Kayla, which David denies. David says he knows Adam's secrets, his inner demons. And some demons those things are. Adam loses it, and stabs David.
The turn of events in this story is that David doesn't exist. He's a figment of Adam's imagination. Adam is Schizophrenic, and he's alluded to it with Kayla. Kayla thinks it's just thoughts rolling around in his head. Adam is haunted by these illusions. Adam realizes that he is insane, and starts crying. He leans against the wall of his apartment, that knife sitting listlessly in his lap. Kayla is going throw away her existence with Adam, and realizes he might be in trouble. She runs for his apartment, and finds him sitting on the floor, with the knife laying across his wrist. And the movie ends.
My thoughts on this movie (after the quite lengthy summary) are this: if Eoin Macken's purpose was to make you think about this movie after watching it, he was successful. I kept saying "wow" at the end of this, as The Evora was playing during the credits. It's a hauntingly beautiful film. Eoin's acting was superb in this film. You felt like you right in the film alongside him, and you just felt his pain. I am not going to say the right words about it. I just highly recommend that people see it. I have seen a lot of independent films and short films that have the same visceral appeal and rawness, but this is on a different level. The mere fact of how amazing the cinematography is from a movie filmed in the span of ten days, is amazing. American films take several weeks to film, even the independent ones, and for ten days, this is superb. The acting is even amazing, for an independent film. Usually the acting seems forced and like a couple teenage kids messing around with a camera.
This review became more of a summary, and the review itself is spotty. I apologize. My head runs faster than my hands, and I had a myriad of thoughts running around at the same time. When my brain settles, I might be able to write a more cohesive review later on.
Also, this movie has one of the best soundtracks in it. The Evora's music fits seamlessly into this film, and adds an element to the film which is lacking in several movies today.
As for the links:
Dreaming For You
His YouTube account, which has movies and then some posted.
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