Written by Alexander Reams

68/100

Call For Dreams is the directorial debut from Ran Slavin. While I believe there is serious talent behind the camera, I found the film became bogged down in an attempt to be profound. Forgetting one of the most fundamental parts of filmmaking – storytelling. The film itself is about a woman who publishes an ad. Requesting a “Call For Dreams”. People leave dream descriptions on her answering machine, and she realizes them in real life. All the while, a murder investigation is taking place in Tel Aviv.

As stated, the film deals with 2 parallel storylines, neither of which are fully formed or explored. In an 80-minute film this is already a bad idea, but when you add in robotic acting the films plot and pace screech to a halt, then speeds up, then halts again. This uneven pacing makes the films plot even less coherent than it was before. The acting in this film is no less than horrendous and stale. The lead Mami Shimazaki is nothing less than mechanical, and takes you out of the film even more.

The cinematography of Tel Aviv and a rain-soaked Tokyo is truly gorgeous. Ran did a fantastic job on the production design on the film, combining neon and futurism together for fantastic sets, and framing the camera in a way that allows the viewer to take in all of the great work he did. Unfortunately, those select direction choices do not save the film. This is a film that values the style over the substance. Properly done it can lead to a great film but this accomplishes neither and left me very disappointed.

Call for Dreams Trailer

Call for Dreams is currently free to watch on Tubi TV and The Roku Channel