Academy Award winner Jessica Chastain reunites with director Michel Franco for her latest film, “Dreams,” from Greenwich Entertainment. Franco also pens the film’s screenplay. On paper, this film plays like a stylish remnant of the golden age of the erotic thriller, featuring sleek interiors, dangerous longing, and sex charged with consequence.
However, its themes are unmistakably contemporary. This is not a film focused on cheap provocation; instead, Franco employs intimacy as a tool, probing into issues of class, immigration, and the fragile illusion of control.
Jennifer McCarthy (played by Jessica Chastain), a wealthy American socialite, embarks on an affair with Fernando Rodríguez (Isaac Hernández), a talented Mexican ballet dancer whose skill grants him status in one world but offers little protection in another. Their connection is immediate and physical, fueled by both curiosity and chemistry. What begins as a hedonistic indulgence gradually unveils itself as something far more intricate: a negotiation of power masked as romance.
Chastain portrays Jennifer with a polished exterior that gradually shatters under pressure. She perceives herself as generous, enlightened, and fair—traits that are easy to uphold when comfort insulates her from consequences. However, when Fernando secretly crosses the U.S.-Mexico border, transforming their private relationship into a political reality, Jennifer is compelled to confront the limitations of her empathy. The film suggests that love is uncomplicated when it exists within privilege but becomes volatile when sacrifice is necessary.
Hernández, a principal dancer making a striking screen debut, brings a captivating physical presence to Fernando. His body—disciplined, expressive, and precise—serves as both his instrument and vulnerability. Franco presents the film’s explicit intimacy not as mere spectacle but as choreography; every embrace, pause, and shift in positioning carries significance. Who initiates? Who yields? Who benefits? The answers are never static.
Franco incorporates references to classical ballet, most notably “Swan Lake” and “Romeo and Juliet,” highlighting the timelessness of doomed desire. Like those tragic tales, “Dreams” understands that love does not exist outside the systems of power. Borders—whether national, economic, or emotional—shape the choices available to each character.
“Dreams” is less about sex and more about leverage. It is a tense, erotic drama that poses a simple yet unsettling question: When love collides with inequality, who truly holds the power—and who ultimately pays the price?
Final Grade: B+
Greenwich Entertainment will release DREAMS in theaters on February 27, 2026.
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