Directed by Jeremy Max and written by Ryan Delouya, an unhappily married man takes his friend’s recommendation for an escort service, leading him into a night filled with bizarre and surreal turns. Starring: James Parenti, Rivers Duggan, Elan Holtz, Conner Reddan, Samantha Wittig and Ryley Fabber.
It’s an age-old story, men looking outside the marriage because they’re not satisfied with how often they’re having sex, so it’s definitely not a leap in believability diving into Dream Girl. It’s a decent concept, tempted by the idea of something new and exciting, desire leading Ben (James Parenti) astray so easily, before he knows what he’s getting into. The set-up and the end goal of the story work but it feels as though everything doesn’t quite come together.
The progression is surprisingly slow which doesn’t provide a lot of opportunity to add in a punch to the plot. The tone feels like it’s comedically inclined but it’s not really going for humour. It lands somewhere in the middle, not quite dark or with enough of an edge to move towards thrill territory but also not fully attempting to embrace the bizarre side of things. Ultimately, it does bring the story full circle but it’s not particularly satisfying.
Whereas the visual quality is nicely consistent throughout, the cinematography from Jake Horgan is strong. It adds a bigger dose of reality, a lot of similar set-ups can devolve into sitcom stylings, but along with Jeremy Max’s direction, Dream Girl holds onto a grounded quality. There’s a good amount of movement and variety to the shot choices, while the pacing is quite slow, the visual does slightly compensate for that.
The performances are also solid, while the chemistry might not come through very strongly, the characters are still well executed. It’s an interesting idea with Ben how audiences will respond, men will likely appreciate him more than others, as there will probably be a vastly different amount of sympathy depending on the viewer.
A man who actively seeks out cheating on his wife is a slightly strange choice these days but credit to James Parenti for never making him inherently dislikable. There’s something naïve about him that makes you hold on, to see what choices he’ll make in the crucial moment. Rivers Duggan then brings in a big note of spontaneity and unpredictability which is a fantastic addition. It’s a shame, given the runtime, that they didn’t use more of it to play out her arc, let things escalate or add more layers before it closed out, again to embrace that bizarre side.
Dream Girl takes a very familiar concept and adds its own spin. It’s shot well, there’s a strong visual at work, Max never lets things get too still which was an excellent choice. There’s a good cast at work and the idea for the story is great but it feels like it needed to let loose a bit more. It had the potential for something more chaotic, but in the end it leant on nudity rather than narrative to create its big finale, which doesn’t land as strongly.
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