THR has revealed the first look at Elizabeth Banks (Slither) and John C. Reilly (Kong: Skull Island) in DreamQuil, a psychological sci-fi thriller with body horror elements and AI commentary.
Set in the not so distant future when poor air quality leads to people living mostly virtually lives, Banks stars as Carol, a dissatisfied career mother struggling to find connection within her marriage to Gary (Reilly) and her child.
With the day-to-day familiarity of their home and lives feeling increasingly claustrophobic, and worried she could be heading towards divorce, Carol leaps at the chance to get her life back on track by signing up for DreamQuil, an avant-garde digital wellness retreat.
When Carol returns home however, she discovers her family has been living with Carol 2, a robot the corporation sent designed to help in her absence, and things take a mysterious and sinister turn.
Alex Prager makes her feature directorial debut from a script she co-wrote with Vanessa Prager.
“Body horror as a genre is a response to living in the world where we’re making fake versions of ourselves now, all the time,” Banks tells THR. “The notion of uploading ourselves into a better version is really enticing for people.”
“I liked the idea of telling the story… through the way ‘The Twilight Zone’ or a theater might,” Prager says. “It feels really artificial because it’s theater, but at the same time, there’s nothing more alive than the living and breathing people right in front of you. There’s also a playfulness in the theatricality, so we’re not taking ourselves too seriously.”
Juliette Lewis (“Yellowjackets”), Sofia Boutella (The Mummy), Kathryn Newton (Abigail), Lamorne Morris (“New Girl”), and Toby Larsen round out the cast.
Banks produces alongside Alex Prager, Max Handelman, Alison Small, Vincent Landay, and Michael Mendelsohn. Executive producers include Marc Marrie, Matt Aselton, Mal Ward, Scott Putman, and Natalie Perrota.
DreamQuil will have its world premiere at SXSW in Austin, Texas, on March 16. Republic Pictures will distribute it later this year.
