“Come True”
Directed by: Anthony Scott Burns
Starring: Julia Sarah Stone and Landon Liboiron
TRIGGER WARNING: This post contains content and images of a potentially graphic nature. On one hand, I’d advise caution before you advance, because I care about my readers. On the other hand, I’d advise simply treading lighly, as you’ve all been with me for a while and I wouldn’t offer you reading material/content that I didn’t value nor want you too as well.
Trailer here: (I was going to do a whole custom video but frankly the trailer does it justice.)
This film had a profound affect on me in many ways. I recently “re-watched” it, in an attempt to feel the way it had originally tested with many of my emotions and psychology. Especially in a away many people want to feel something. Similar to the way drugs and/or alcohol may do so for some people. Please allow me to explain why.
And bear with me… this is a long read but, in my opinion, worth it.
Who is Sara Dunn?
Sara is a young woman with a troubled relationship with her mother, whom she avoids for unknown reasons. Essentially homeless, she steals food from her mother’s house and sleeps in a sleeping bag outdoors or at friends’ homes. Her sleep environment affects her ability to stay awake in class and throughout the day. She is also plagued by strange, surreal nightmares of a dark maze and a shadowy figure with glowing eyes.
The Sleep Study: What’s going on?
Tired of sleeping in the playground, Sarah enrolls in a sleep study group that pays people to sleep connected to their wires. The group uses technology that converts brainwaves into images, and they have been studying people’s nightmares. Their apparent quest is to prove that all the participants see the same shadowy man they project into the room during sleep paralysis. This group even successfully observes two guys who simultaneously view the projection of the shadow man in the study room.
Who is Jeremy?
Jeremy was someone very close to her in real life-perhaps a boyfriend or a husband. Inside her (sleep)? She’s projected Jeremy as a creepy scientist. He even stalks Sarah around through the day. This disgusts Sarah, and she decides to not go back to the study. Despite this, Sarah later warms up to him and even has sex with him; an explanation could be that Jeremy was her lover in real life.
Who is Zoe?
Zoe is Sarah’s only friend, Sarah’s safe place in the otherwise dark sleep. Zoe’s disappearance is the thing that allows Sarah to change course and depend on a different person. As long as Zoe is there, Sarah lives in a repetitive loop within her sleep.
What is the deal with Sarah’s phone?
Sarah’s phone is always with her, and we initially write it off as a teenager thing. But the phone is a tether to her subconscious from the outside world. Sarah gets a call from Zoe at one point in a laundromat and has an episode of epilepsy. This is also the last time we hear from Zoe.
When Sarah wakes up, a seemingly blind lady tells her that some boys took something from her and ran. Sarah realizes her phone is missing. With Zoe and her phone gone, she has nowhere to go and reaches out to Jeremy for help.
Jeremy explains to Sarah that they observe nightmares during the study. He convinces her to join again, and she does. But another nightmarish encounter with the shadow man causes her to up and leave. She looks for Zoe in a club and faints there. Jeremy follows her, finds her and brings Sarah back to his place.
Jeremy’s Dream With Sarah
At Jeremy’s house, Sarah sees that he has connected himself to a dream machine and has strapped himself in on the bed. Sarah sees Jeremy kissing her in the dream. She also notices a scene where both Jeremy and Sarah have fangs and are laughing. We’ll come back to this in the end. Soon, Sarah sees the shadow man in Jeremy’s dream moving closer to him, and she wakes Jeremy up. Later she discloses what Jeremy saw in his dream, and the two have sex when Sarah sees two shadow men and goes unconscious.
Sleep Walk Scene in the Field
Jeremy rushes Sarah to a hospital, but she sleep-walks out of that place. Unable to wake Sarah up, Jeremy calls his coworker Anita and asks her to come with a portable dream viewer. They plug Sarah in, follow her, and observe the device as she walks into a labyrinth-like passage filled with shadow men. Remember, Sarah is missing her phone, indicating her mind is further getting lost. Just as Sarah is about to enter a contraption in the dream and is lost forever, Jeremy finds her phone and picks up an incoming call. The outside world reestablishes contact with Sarah via Jeremy. As a result, Sarah snaps out of her sleep-walking state and drops to her knees.
Jeremy tells Sarah to “Keep Breathing“. This feels like a message from the outside world to ask Sarah to keep breathing and not give up.
When Sarah is confronted by a shadow man, she flashes back to Jeremy’s apartment, where she has apparently killed him by gouging his eyes out in the middle of sex. Ouch, what a way to go!
Sarah hasn’t murdered anyone. The technique the outside world is implementing caused Sarah to kill her Animus. Why is this important? Well, Sarah’s initial latch in the coma was Zoe. Once that is removed, she latches on to Jeremy, who is also removed. Now Sarah is in a state to receive communication directly from the outside world.
She opens her mouth to see she has grown fangs, and she laughs with joy. She hears a ping and her phone and he looks over towards the toilet. The camera slowly pans over and we eventually see a final message on the screen that reads:
I believe the movie title references two phrases, “Dream Come True” and “Wish Come True”. In that last scene, the fangs that were part of Jeremy’s dream come true and let Sarah know that her world is not real and that she’s in a coma. For Sarah’s loved ones who have been fighting to bring her out of her coma, this is their wish come true. It could be a far stretch of the imagination, but I thought I’d throw in my two cents.
The Final Message
In the final moments of the film. The “apex moment”, as I’ve always called it in any film, Sarah is joyfully coming to terms with her new form as her teeth have come in. Remembering the night she had with Jeremy and the audience, at the point, is a wee bit confused… dream/reallity…? Dream/reality? The camera slowely pans to her, once lost and newly found phone, to see a message that just “pinged in”. It reads:
“IF YOU’RE READING THIS.
YOU’VE BEEN IN A COMA
FOR ALMOST 20 YEARS.
WE’RE TRYING A NEW
TECHNIQUE.
WE DON’T KNOW WHERE
THIS MESSAGE WILL END
UP IN YOUR DREAM.
PLEASE WAKE UP.”
WOW! It just all starts to make sense, no? I mean, I’ve just broken it down for you… but I used the word “dream” because I didn’t want to break that for you. The phone is a conduit. 20 YEARS?! I adore this film. Well acted and they all played their rolls ever so well.
Important things to take away:
Psychologist Carl Jung was the one to come up with the four archetypes. This film talks about those througout 4 stages about the progression of said film.
The Persona: is the outer face that we present to the world. In the context of the film, this segment shows Sarah’s existence as a teenager in a world that she has created. In reality, she’s lying in some hospital bed and is at least 20 years older.
The Anima/Animus: is the opposite image of the biological sex. These are the people she’s projecting in her coma state; specifically, Jeremy, who I suspect was her lover in real life. Everyone in the film is part of her subconscious, and they are probably projections of people from her real life.
The Shadow: is the animal side which is the source of both creative and destructive energies. In this section of the film, Sarah bails from the study, disclosing that she knows exactly what they are up to. We see Sarah’s aggressive side take control.
The Self: is the true inner self. This refers to Sarah coming to terms with the fact that her true self is in a coma and her facade of a teenager is only a dream.
Any GOOD psychologist, et al, will recognize these chosen personifications and/or states of minds. These are not easy places to be/want/get to. One can choose/not choose, accept or simply… be.
GOOD, golly gosh, this one. That last text message after all of that. It always chokes me up.
Further things to take away:
I’ve known of Julia Sarah Stone since she played “Lyric” in several seasons of “The Killing” on Netflix in 2011 and she’s since gone on to do some incredible things. Good on her!