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Michel Franco’s ‘Dreams’ Opens in France With Chastain and Hernández in a Stark Class-and-Race Drama

Early French reviews fault an austere, moralistic style in a film centered on the performance of white philanthropy.

Overview

  • The feature, which reunites Franco with Jessica Chastain after Memory (2023), opens in French cinemas on Wednesday, January 28.
  • It follows Jennifer, a wealthy white socialite and philanthropist, and Fernando, a young Mexican ballet dancer, whose clandestine relationship exposes entrenched hierarchies.
  • Coverage underscores themes of racial and class inequality and interrogates the optics of charitable power.
  • One review characterizes the direction as punitive, cold, and misanthropic, noting that intense performances do not overcome its moralizing tone.
  • Reporting highlights the story’s engagement with U.S. migration realities, including clandestine travel and the climate of enforcement.