**This post contains spoilers**
The Story- Living as a runaway, and supported by her friend, Zoe (Tedra Rogers), Sarah Dunne (Julia Sarah Stone) volunteers for an experimental sleep study. Led by Dr. Meyer (Christopher Heatherington), Sarah is closely monitored by Jeremy (Landon Liboiron) and Anita (Carlee Ryski). Sarah hopes to find the answers behind her sleeping problems, and a bizarre series of dreams and nightmares, but Sarah’s search for the truth leads her down a dark and troubling path.
My Thoughts- Julia Sarah Stone really holds her own well in the leading role. You can take one look at Sarah, and you’ll quickly notice she’s a young woman, who’s fighting a lot of demons. She’s exhausted, constantly dealing with conflicting emotions, and naturally, she’s hesitant to trust the scientists, who are supposedly trying to help her.
Stone effortlessly captures everything Sarah is going through, including the paranoia, the anger, and the frustration surrounding Sarah’s unusual dilemma. A good showing in the leading role, and Stone easily delivers the best performance here.
Landon Liboiron’s Jeremy (or Riff) is clearly obsessed and fascinated by Sarah. She’s the ideal test subject, but Jeremy also deeply cares about Sarah. Liboiron plays the geeky scientist, who’s willing to take risks to protect Sarah, a timid and nervous guy, but he steps up, when it’s necessary. A solid performance from Liboiron, especially towards the end, when the bond strengthens between Jeremy and Sarah.
Sarah receives a text message in her dreams, informing her that she’s been in a coma for almost twenty years? Eh, okay. Well, I guess you could say that’s a unique choice for how to close out the movie.
It’s an ending that raises a lot of questions, and there’s no definitive answers for what’s going to happen to Sarah, but it’s a good emotional roller-coaster for the home stretch. The chase at night in the dark woods, the glowing eyes of the monsters in the dark, and Sarah, complete with fangs and covered in Jeremy’s blood, laughing to herself after reading the text message, is an eerie and freaky visual.
Plus, when Sarah “wakes up” on top of Jeremy to reveal she’s been aggressively gouging out his eyes? Wow. Truly a shocking moment. A fast transition to that scene after what happened in the woods, and the set up for the weird fiasco does a good job of delivering a morbid surprise. Sarah’s running through the woods, the monsters attack Anita and Jeremy, Sarah stops, and bam! She’s killing Jeremy after the two of them had sex.
Pay attention to everything that’s going on, especially the surroundings outside, and in the parking garage, after Jeremy takes Sarah to the hospital. No cars in the parking garage, a HOSPITAL parking garage of all places? No traffic, or any moving cars on the streets? No one else walking around? I know it’s late at night, but Sarah was obviously stuck in her nightmares, or the dreamworld, because everything is just too quiet, and there’s no kind of movement, or activities going on around Sarah, Anita, and Jeremy.
The big clincher? The ending confirms nothing is real. Sarah is stuck in her nightmares and her dreams. Also, Sarah conveniently finds a flyer, offering twelve dollars an hour to participate in a study for people with sleeping disorders? There’s a place within walking distance that has futuristic technology to conduct the experiments? It’s all too convenient.
The bleeding from Sarah’s eye socket is something to think about. Maybe it’s a sign Jeremy, Anita, and the others were pushing too hard with the experiments? Or, is it possible that Sarah was about to wake up in the real world? Coming out of a coma after almost two decades is no easy task. There’s a good chance Sarah suffers before she opens her eyes, more wounds and more scars, hence the bloody eye socket.
Why is Sarah avoiding her mother, a mother, who’s seemingly concerned about her? You get the feeling Sarah’s exile from home is self-imposed, and there’s a pattern for people, who are close to Sarah, whether its loved ones, or people she forms connections with. Two people (Zoe, and another volunteer for the study named Emily) completely disappear from Sarah’s life, without any real explanations. Jeremy and Anita tried to help and protect Sarah, but let’s just say they ran into some big problems.
Maybe that’s why Sarah is staying away from her mother? It’s a strange way of protecting her, but if that’s the case, then why is she so close to Zoe, knowing what could possibly happen to her? People disappearing from Sarah’s life, or worse, suffering from brutal attacks, is a sign that her worst nightmares are coming true: Sarah is stuck in the dreamworld, and she can’t wake up.
Come True uses a methodical style of pacing. It works, because you’ll see a few spikes for some jarring moments and scenes every now and then, when it’s necessary. Sarah’s story is slowly unfolding piece by piece, so everything feels more torturous for her, the experiences, the dilemmas, the doubts, all of it. She’s stuck with sinking and lingering emotions. Sarah doesn’t have any time to try and figure out the previous problems, and it’s only a matter of time before another problem smashes into her, like a speeding eighteen-wheeler.
Most of the answers to the big questions are not clear-cut or straightforward. I have mixed feelings for the ending. Yes, it’s a shocker, but the big reveal during the ending raises more questions. How did this happen, and how did Sarah get here?
Come True playing around with what’s real, and what’s not real, or what’s bleeding into the real world, if it exists? Well, the ending answers those questions. Taking a few steps backwards, it’s kind of easy to sort out what’s going on, if you pay attention to the clues. One too many convenient occurrences, including finding the neighborhood research center that’s oddly tailored to Sarah’s specific condition. The monsters? They’re popping up, because Sarah is clearly struggling to fight off bad thoughts. When the dam breaks, the monsters attack anyone, who’s close to, or trying to protect her.
Overall, Come True is a good horror/sci-fi film. The visuals and the cinematography are undeniably fantastic. The nightmare sequences are genuinely creepy and eerie, and the scene deep in the dark woods at night towards the end, is a good nail-biter.
Come True also turns into a darker film, as the story progresses, mirroring the deep dive into Sarah’s dreams and her nightmares. It’s a risky journey through Sarah’s mind to find the answers she’s looking for, and there’s no happy ending here. There’s A LOT to unpack, when the credits start rolling. The ending sparks a domino effect for more questions, but Come True still checks off a good amount of boxes for a horror film about dreams, nightmares, loneliness, and how isolation can ruin so many areas in your life.
Rating- 8/10
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