Review: Come True – “A masterpiece of atmospheric, slow burn sci-fi/horror”

Anthony Scott Burns’ Come True is a brilliant and effective film about, initially, a troubled runaway teenager who signs up for a sleep study to not only make money, but to possibly come to understand her recurring nightmares.

18-year-old Sarah (Julia Sarah Stone) is sleeping outside and occasionally at her friend Zoe’s (Tedra Rogers) house due to an unspecified conflict with her mother. Her nightmares are truly unsettling; foggy surreal landscapes, bizarre nude headless human forms, floating doors, and culminate in the sight of an ominous hulking figure right before she wakes. And they get worse from there. The idea of not only having a bed to sleep in but making money and possibly finding the root of her nightmares is too good to pass up.

The study starts off innocently enough with Anita (Carlee Ryski) one of the research team, donning Sarah in a suit and sleep helmet that will allow them to study “the data”. Anita outlines the basics of the process but tells Sarah she cannot divulge exactly what the purpose of the study is. Nor can she discuss why there are more males than females in the study.  Sarah seems briefly concerned but wakes up the next morning refreshed and cheerful.  She tells the research team she has not slept that well in quite some. So far so good, but not for long.

The following day a man strikes up a conversation with Sarah in a bookstore, and then again while she is at the movies with Zoe.   Slightly suspicious, Sarah tells Zoe she saw the man earlier and isn’t feeling social. She then forcibly directs Zoe in the opposite direction.

The next morning Anita shows Sarah some images from her dreams, the final one which triggers Sarah to have a seizure.  Anita yells for Riff (Landon Liboiron) another researcher. Turns out Riff is the man Sarah saw yesterday.  He claims he wasn’t following her and Sarah, understandably, doesn’t believe him.

Things become increasingly weird for Sarah, and the audience, after her seizure. Unexplainable events occur, and Sarah starts experience hallucinations. Is she lucid dreaming? Is she really awake at all? Up until this point the dream sequences are very clear, follow the same format, and are increasingly creepy.  Once we (and Sarah) uncover what the scientists are actually studying, things make a bit more sense. That is until the insane third act and the film’s polarizing conclusion.  One which made me immediately re-watch the film.

Director Burns also serves as writer (with co-writer credit to Daniel Weissenberger), cinematographer and editor for Come True and he truly knocks it out of the park. This film is so compelling.  He immediately puts you into Sarah’s nightmare to let you know what you are in for. The very first thing that struck me about the film was the score. The first synth-heavy ominous notes (courtesy of Pilotpreist and Electric Youth) that lead you into Sarah’s dream establish a strong tone of dread that only escalates as Come True progresses. The score is so powerful that a synth-violin note provided (for me at least) the film’s single jump scare.

Not that a lack of jump scares is a bad thing. Burns uses atmosphere and tone to keep the audience unsettled, and constantly on the edge of our seats.  Also, there is some utterly disturbing imagery throughout. The dread is tangible and constantly mounts. We really do not know what is going to happen, but it is not going to be good. In one sequence, where the researchers are observing someone experiencing a shadowy night terror, helpless with tears quietly streaming down their face, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Goosebumps. Yes, that is a cliché, but happened, nonetheless.  Burns also, smartly, sets Come True in a purposefully ambiguous timeline. The world in which Come True is set feels largely retro, yet also futuristic, frequently at the same time. The uncertainty only adds to the overall disquieting tone of the film.

While all the performances work, Stone especially shines as Sarah. She is utterly convincing as a haunted and driven young woman who (like the audience) just wants to figure out what the hell is happening.

Come True is masterpiece of atmospheric, slow burn sci-fi/horror.  Despite what you think of the film’s final, WTF moment, the ride up until then is well worth it. This is a movie that will stick with you long after viewing. Watch it alone, with headphones, right before going to bed. Sweet dreams!