Gemma's Dream Job

Gemma's Dream Job

Bruce Von Stiers

Gemma is a young woman with high hopes of becoming an actor in Hollywood. She is a small-town Georgia girl who has left all of her friends and family behind to pursue her dreams.

Gemma gets rejection after rejection for acting roles and can't even land a job. That is, until she sees a help wanted sign on a building. The job is at an experimental sleep clinic called Somnium. All Gemma has to do is monitor the sleeping clients via video screens. Sounds simple. But is it really?

This is the premise for a new sci-fi thriller film titled Somnium.

One of the promotional descriptions for the film says that Somnium is “An experimental sleep clinic where dreams are made real. Side effects may include: hallucinations, confusion, paranoia, sleep paralysis, detachment from reality, lost sense of self and permanent nightmares.” That description would really want you to become part of the sleep clinic experience, right? Maybe not.

The film follows Gemma as she tries to navigate her work life and trying to pursue her acting dream. Her co-worker Olivia seems a little aloof but is almost always on the verge of telling Gemma something about the clinic that nobody is supposed to know. Her other co-worker Noah is more than a little bit strange. And the clients, through the techniques used during their sleep cycle at the clinic, have the potential to do what they really want or to become who they never though possible. But, if this could really happen, what is the true cost?

After starting to work at the clinic, Gemma keeps getting the feeling that someone, or something, is watching her. She keeps hearing this strange noise in her apartment, like someone is there. But she never finds anything.

Interspersed with the scenes are flashbacks to Gemma's life back in Georgia. These flashbacks are all about Gemma and her boyfriend Hunter. From when they first get together, until she leaves for Los Angeles, these scenes are at times poignant and other times very dramatic.

Along the way in her journey, Gemma meets and becomes friendly with Brooks. He is somehow associated with the acting world. He tells Gemma he can help her out. But will there be strings attached? There is also this woman called Max, who is an international celebrity. In some way, she has a connection to both Brooks and the Somnium clinic.

Gemma does some snooping around the clinic and discovers something horrific. Or so she thinks. Nobody else seems to have seen anything. Is Gemma just imagining things, or is there something nefarious going on? Although this is a sci-fi thriller, at its core, the film is a drama. Gemma subconsciously feels she is doomed to fail. After all, her parents and friends, and even Hunter, seem to have had no confidence in her ability to make it in L.A. as an actor.

The sense that Gemma has of someone stalking her, of being in her apartment adds an extra layer of mystery and suspense to the film. Are these things real or simply Gemma's imagination running wild?

Chloe Levine played Gemma. With around forty screen credits, Chloe starred in films such as the comedy Antarctica and the thriller Blue Bison.

Johnathan Schaech played Brooks. From films such as How To Make An American Quilt to appearing as Jonah Hex on a couple of DC Comics television shows, he has well over a hundred screen credits.

Will Peltz played Noah. He co-starred in The Nana Project and Hunt Club, along with a couple episodes of Mayans M.C.

Clarissa Thibeaux played Olivia. I recently reviewed a noir film she co-starred in, Night Rain.

Peter Vack played Hunter. He appeared in Puddysticks and co-starred in the romantic comedy series Love Live.

Draya Michele played Max. She co-starred in the series Legacy and Be Someone and the musical romance drama The Sound of Christmas.

Gillian White played Dr. Katherine Shaffer, the founder of the Somnium clinic. She co-starred in As Good As Dead and A Dark Way Out.

In one segment of the film, Brooks has invited Gemma to a party. He picks her up in a limo, whose other passengers are also Brooks guests. These people are Cate, Cowboy and Dakota. Cate is a talented singer; Dakota is an up-and-coming actor. Cowboy is just Cowboy and was played by Joe Finfera, who has co-starred in a bunch of romance films. Cate was played by Emily Mei, who has co-starred in films such as Jujitsu Kaisen. Dakota was played by Grace Van Dien. She starred in V For Vengeance and The Fix.

Also appearing in the film was Keller Fornes, David Moskowitz, Amanda Jones, Maye Harris, Shannon Bengston, Shelby Lee Parks, Sophie Jordan Collins, Hannah Hueston, Rene Aranda, Bill Kottkamp, Tyler Francavilla and Bries Vannon.

The film was produced by Maria Allred and Christopher Raby. Allred was the producer and director for The Texture of Falling and the writer and director of The Dreaming. Raby was the producer for Agenda: Payback. Additionally, Patricia Chica, Mike Hatton, Ali Mahir Aksu and Andrea Saavedra were listed as producers.

The cinematographer for the film was Lance Kuhns. He was a film unit director and director of photography for almost ninety episodes of Saturday Night live and was the cinematographer for Samantha Rose and Central Standard.

The force behind the production of Somnium was Rachael Cain. She wrote the screenplay and directed the film. She was also one of the producers.

From an interview that Rachael did with Christopher Lloyd at Film Yap, I learned some very interesting and intriguing things. The screenplay for Somnium won first place in the Los Angeles Screenplay Competition. The film also received quite a bit of notice at Cannes. The film was also Rachael's first feature that she's directed.

I learned that this was a multi-year project. After obtaining a bit of financing in 2017, Rachael and Lance traveled to Georgia in 2018 to film the flashback scenes. Knowing it would take some time to raise the money to complete the film, Rachael was “excited to weave the texture of the authentic passage of time into the film.”

The filming was completed in 2022, and postproduction took almost another two years. The film had its initial premiere at the Chattanooga Film Festival, where it won the 2024 Audience Award.

Somnium is a very intriguing film. There is tried and true small-town girl who wants to make it in Hollywood plot device. Added to that is an air of suspense and an element of science fiction that takes the film to a different level. Using a sleep study to boost egos, and to change who or what a person becomes is kind of a strange, slightly creepy and entertaining plot element.

Somnium will have a limited theatrical run beginning Friday, August 29 th at selected theaters through September 6 th . Beginning on September 9 th , Somnium will be available to rent or own on Apple TV, Prime Video and Fandango At Home.

There is an Instagram page for Somnium. It has a trailer for the film, a few videos from Rachael Cain and some other stuff. That page can be found at https://www.instagram.com/somniumthemovie/?hl=en

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