Sommerleigh Pollonais, Horror Head Writer
This October I decided to watch and review some of those great horror movies (31 to be exact) that I missed on their initial release. And for Part 29 of my series of the 31 OF THE BEST HORROR MOVIES YOU (MAY HAVE) MISSED we will be checking out cerebral horror Come True. Let’s get to it:
Day 29 of 31: Come True
Director: Anthony Scott Burns
Starring: Julia Sarah Stone, Landon Liboiron, Carlee Ryski
IMDb Trivia: Part of the music for the film was created by Pilotpriest. Pilotpriest is the director Anthony Scott Burns‘s DJ’s name.
Plot: A teenage runaway takes part in a sleep study that becomes a nightmarish descent into the depths of her mind and a frightening examination of the power of dreams.
Review: Let me start by saying I know this isn’t going to be every horror fan’s idea of a good time. Some folks like their horror fast and furious while others appreciate the more cerebral scares. Come True is heavily the latter, but that doesn’t take much away from this visually terrifying and highly inventive take on the world that exists in our dreams. Think Jacob’s Ladder meets Possessor but with less gory bits.
Come True follows Sarah (Julia Sarah Stone), a young woman who is having trouble sleeping, and understandably so as she’s spends her nights crashing on a local playground or at her friend’s house. Sarah sees an opportunity for a good night’s rest when she comes across a sleep study programme hosted by a local university. All seems to be going well as after the first night Sarah wakes up feeling rested and ready for the day, but this isn’t Disney’s Sleeping Beauty so things predictably get weird when as we find out the study isn’t about insomnia but to find the truth behind what causes sleep paralysis. As Sarah continues the study she has the added tension of being stalked by someone named Jeremy while she’s awake and a shadowy figure that keeps getting closer and closer to her every time she dreams.
If there’s a sleep condition, I’ve had it. From insomnia to night terrors to the icing on the cake called sleep paralysis. Thankfully the worst of it is behind me, but watching Come True for anyone who has struggled with these real-life issues makes the unfolding nightmare of Sarah’s world all the more chilling. I can’t help but think this is something Burns has an intimate knowledge of and it shows in the imagery he chooses to bombard us with, especially that of the shadow figures. Added to these eerie scenes are a synth-heavy score, and for a film with a low budget I have to applaud how effectively it all came together.
On the other side of the pillow things aren’t so good though. The story itself teases certain themes such as the ethics behind these types of “hidden” studies (Sarah is told she’s taking part in an insomnia study but it’s something else altogether) or the morals of crossing a line with a patient, but all of this is brushed over pretty quickly as Burns wants to keep the focus on the visuals more than anything else. The pacing can be a bit maddening at times and the ending felt a bit unearned (I’ve said it before but here I go again—a twist only works if it doesn’t feel like a copout or an easy way to wrap things up).
Luckily Come True is more than the sum of its parts; a movie that’s inspired by the likes of David Cronenberg and at one point even name drops Room 237 (Kubrick fans will of course roll their eyes at this one). This is definitely a story that will connect with the sleep-deprived among us but also deserves a chance to shine, if just for those eerie nightmare scenes alone.
Sommer’s Score: 6.5 out of 10
You can check out Part 28 of my 31 Days List and horror comedy Get Duked! below together with my review of Possessor:
Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes.
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