Come true

After having missed it during its screening at the Fantasia festival last August, we were finally able to catch up with the second film written and directed by Anthony Scott Burns (Our House (2018)) and we were conquered by its originality, its many successful horrific and disturbing effects but also by its casting. Once again, Canadian cinema shows that it is able to compete with American cinema and offer fantastic films that are perfectly calibrated and hold the viewer's breath throughout the story.

We thus discover Sarah (Julia Sarah Stone) who, after running away from home and facing recurring nightmares, decides to take part in a sleep study that gradually becomes a nightmarish dive into the depths of her mind and leads her to face a demonic entity with an increasingly strong imprint on her. Her nightmares seem to come to life and not only endanger her life but also that of her loved ones.

Writer and director Anthony Scott Burns has succeeded in creating a truly disturbing framework in which the analysis of the dream is at the center of the story. Also present as his son's cinematographer and editor, Burns has complete control over his work and can therefore totally control his film without having to respond to certain diktats but also to deliver the film he really had in mind. This freedom is totally felt through a willingness to propose a film with its own foundations, even if the theme of nightmares coming to life is a recurrent theme in horrific cinema (one will think in particular of the Nightmare on Elm Street film saga).

To bring Sarah's nightmares to life, the director demonstrates a real know-how, particularly in the use of space but also in the noises that reinforce the disturbing climate. One can also feel the influence on this director of John Carpenter by his willingness to function economically and to use music perfectly to reinforce the oppressive climate of the film. In the same way, the presence of the young actress Julia Sarah Stone gives this film real credibility as her acting is irreproachable and succeeds in giving a real psychological depth to her character.

Certainly the end of the film spoils a little the success of this one so much it comes to explain the reason of Sarah's incessant nightmares. Yet the great care taken in the direction and above all a will to avoid any repetition and to build a film with a visible care on the screen leaves us to hope that we have not heard the last of director Anthony Scott Burns.

Come True
Written and Directed by Anthony Scott Burns
Produced by Steven Hoban, Mark Smith
Starring Landon Liboiron, Skylar Radzion, Julia Sarah Stone, Tiffany Helm, Tedra Rogers, Chantal Perron, Carlee Ryski, Marla Renae, Michelle Rios
Executive producers: Andrea Hatzinikolas, Vincenzo Natali, Christopher Wallace
Music by Anthony Scott Burns, Pilotpriest, Electric Youth
Cinematography: Anthony Scott Burns
Edited by Anthony Scott Burns
Production companies : Reel Suspects
Release date: March 12, 2021 (USA)
Running time: 105 minutes

Seen January 29 janvier (Gerardmer Festival)

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