This is a list of my favorite dream related movies. This includes movies that may involve Astral Projection, Out of Body Experience, and psychic ability like seeing/predicting the future. Each of these movies deserves its very own page, which at some point I may add. And please note that I’m adding these movies in no particular order, with the exception of the first few. They are all great movies.
Spoiler Alert : There is risk of me giving something away under the “My Thoughts” section for each movie. If you intend on watching any of these movies, you may want to avoid reading my thoughts.
Movie : Dreamscape
Year : 1984
Starring : Dennis Quaid, Kate Capshaw, Max von Sydow, Christopher Plummer
Synopsis : A government funded project looks into using psychics to enter people’s dreams, with some mechanical help. When a subject dies in his sleep from a heart attack Alex Gardner becomes suspicious that another of the psychics is killing people in the dreams somehow and that is causing them to die in real life. He must find a way to stop the abuse of the power to enter dreams.
My Thoughts : This movie tops my list, primarily because it was the first movie about dreams that truley inspired me to research Lucid Dreaming. There are many concepts covered in this movie that are of great interest to me. Concepts include: lucid dreaming, communicating in your dreams, controlling your dream environment, what happens when you die in your dreams, and dream therapy.
Movie : The Matrix
Year : 1999
Starring : Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss
Synopsis : A computer hacker learns from mysterious rebels about the true nature of his reality and his role in the war against its controllers.
My Thougts : This movie is a bit less dated than my number one pic, so quite certainly could earn the top spot for many people. The Matrix as described in this movie is very much like a dream world. Though not many people in the Matrix seem to realize they are dreaming. They believe they are in the real world. It is a perfect example of what is possible when you beome Lucid in a dream. In the end of the movie, Neo flys. Flying is what happens to me nearly everytime that I’m lucid in my dreams, and even many times when I am not Lucid.
Movie : Inception
Year : 2010
Starring : Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page
Synopsys : In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a highly skilled thief is given a final chance at redemption which involves executing his toughest job till date, Inception.
My Thoughts : Do you believe that you can have an idea implanted so deeply in your brain while in a dream, that you act upon that in the real/waking world? I’m here to tell you that it is possible, and it has happened to me more than once. I can also say that I’ve had a Lucid dream within a dream. I was meditating before going to sleep and concentrating on having a Lucid Dream. Then I was dreaming that I was meditating before going to sleep and concentrating on having a Lucid Dream. The result was a dream within a dream where I was immediately Lucid. And when I woke from the dream within the dream, I was still dreaming that I was laying in my bed, and I was lucid in the first dream as well. I willed myself awake so that I could remember to write this dream down. While I haven’t experienced all the concepts in this movie, and I don’t necessarily believe all of them, it’s still a great movie.
Movie : Ink
Year : 2009
Starring : Christtopher Soren Kelly, Quinn Hunchar, Jessica Duffy
Synopsys : As the light fades and the city goes to sleep, two forces emerge. They are invisible except for the power they exert over us in our sleep, battling for our souls through dreams. One force delivers hope and strength through good dreams; the other infuses the subconscious with desperation through nightmares. John (Chris Kelly) and Emma (Quinn Hunchar), Father and Daughter are wrenched into this fantastical dream world battle, forced to fight for John’s soul and to save Emma from an eternal nightmare. Separate in their journey, they encounter unusual characters that exist only in their subconscious. Or do they? Ink is a high-concept visual thriller that weaves seamlessly between the conscious and the subconscious. Ink has been hailed as the new “it” movie and compared to cult classics Brazil, Donnie Darko, The Matrix, Dark City and Pan’s Labyrinth.
My Thoughts : This is not a high budget film. It is an independant. So go easy on your opinion of the special effects. But the concept and acting is top notch in my opinion. I absolutely loved this movie. I idenditified with this movie on so many levels. It made me cry. Back in December 2008, while going through a horrible divorce, I was literally drinking myself to death. I knew I had an alcohol problem for years and wanted to stop, but I simply could not. I even had thoughts of just wanting to die. Even the thought of leaving my 3 year old son without a Father was not stopping the madness. On the morning of January 7th, 2009, I woke up with the deeply engrained thought that I was done. I was finished drinking, and I was finished with the self pity and the depression. What I could not do in the waking world, apparently took place in my dreams. I went to an Alcoholics Anonymous website and downloaded the big blue book, went to a meeting, and haven’t picked up a drink since. I do not remember my dreams because I was completely hung over that morning. But I suspect something happened in my dreams that night. Could it be something like what happened to the main character in this movie? Or something like the movie Inception?
Movie : MirrorMask
Year : 2005
Starring : Stephanie Leonidas
Synopsis : In a fantasy world of opposing kingdoms, a 15-year old girl must find the fabled MirrorMask in order to save the kingdom and get home.
My Thoughts : If you know anything about Neil Gaiman and his work, you’ll know this is a great movie before you’ve seen it. Neil Gaiman is known for the fantasy comic book series “Sandman”, which also has to do with dreams. I have used intent to guide my personal dreams, and it seems there’s a bit of that in this movie too.
Movie : The Cell
Year : 2000
Starring : Jennifer Lopez, Vince Vaughn, Vincent D’Onofrio
Synopsis : An FBI agent persuades a social worker, who is adept with a new experimental technology, to enter the mind of a comatose serial killer in order to learn where he has hidden his latest kidnap victim.
My Thoughts : I think I need to watch this movie again. I remember that I liked it, but need to revisit it. Great visual effects if I recall correctly.
Movie : The Science of Sleep
Year : 2006
Starring : Gael Garcia Bernal, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Miou-Miou
Synopsys : A man entranced by his dreams and imagination is lovestruck with a French woman and feels he can show her his world.
My Thoughts : I would classify this film as artsy. If you’re not into artsy movies, then this may not be a good flick for you. Though it was cute. And there are tools and concepts in the movie having to do with Lucid Dreaming that are right on topic. I enjoyed this movie because of the lucid dreaming connection. Not sure if I would have enjoyed it as much without that. I mean, the character was a little bizzarre afterall. But then, so am I. 🙂
Movie : In Dreams
Year : 1999
Starring : Annette Bening, Robert Downey Jr, Katie Sagona
Synopsys : Claire Cooper dreams strange things from time to time. One night, she dreams about a little girl being taken away by a stranger, right in her neighbourhood. When her own daughter Rebecca is kidnapped and murdered only a little later, Claire is sure about the chilling truth that her and the killer’s mind are connected to each other in dreams. But nobody believes her being able to foresee the killer’s next steps, as she could with her own daughter. In addition, the nervous breakdown she suffers gets her into a mental facility after a suicide attempt. And here, locked away in a padded cell, she dreams of her husband being murdered
My Thoughts : Awesome movie. More to follow after I see it again. 🙂
Movie : The Thirteenth Floor
Year : 1999
Starring : Graig Bierko, Gretchen Mol, Armin Mueller-Stahl
Synopsys : Computer scientist Hannon Fuller has discovered something extremely important. He’s about to tell the discovery to his colleague, Douglas Hall, but knowing someone is after him, the old man leaves a letter in his computer generated parallel world that’s just like the 30’s with seemingly real people with real emotions. Fuller is murdered in our real world the same night, and his colleague is suspected. Douglas discovers a bloody shirt in his bathroom and he cannot recall what he was doing the night Fuller was murdered. He logs into the system in order to find the letter, but has to confront the unexpected. The truth is harsher than he could ever imagine
My Thoughts : Much like the Dream within a Dream in the 2010 movie Inception, but more technology based than the dream of the mind. Great flick thought. The only Lucid ones are the world creators, just like in a dream. But some of the Sims have a clue.
Movie : Waking Life
Year : 2001
Starring : Ethan Hawke, Trevor Jack Brooks, Lorelei Linklater
Synopsys : A man shuffles through a dream meeting various people and discussing the meanings and purposes of the universe.
My Thoughts : I’ve seen this movie before, and I apparently did not remember. I just saw it again in January 2011. It is definitely worth watching, and worth watching more than once. There are a lot of concepts and ideas on consiousness and perception in this movie. Our lucid dreaming meetup group had some really great discussions after watching this movie.
Movie : Paprika
Year : 2006
Starring : Megumi Hayaashibara, Toru Emori, Katsunosuke Hori
Synopsys : When a machine that allows therapists to enter their patient’s dreams is stolen, all hell breaks loose. Only a young female therapist can stop it: Paprika.
My Thoughts : I’ll need to watch this movie again. I forget some of the movie, but I do know that I enjoyed watching it.
Movie : Avatar
Year : 2009
Starring : Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Siguorney Weaver
Synopsys : A paraplegic marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.
My Thoughts : That IMDB synopsis does not do this movie justice at all. This is most definitely one of the greatest movies of all time. While this movie is only very loosely related to dreams, I just had to include it. The dream part is that the person must be in a sleep-like state to enter into the Avatar body. But even more compelling than that technology is the communication that takes place with the plants and animals of Pandora. I liken that communication to the communication that can, and does happen in the Astral/Dream Plane.
Movie : Final Fantasy, the Spirits Within
Year : 2001
Starring : Alex Baldwin, Steve Buschemi, Ming-Na
Synopsis : A female scientist makes a last stand on Earth with the help of a ragtag team of soldiers against an invasion of alien phantoms.
My Thoughts : This is another movie where the dream part may not play the biggest plot line in the movie. However, there is communication that takes place between the main character and an Alien spirit within her dreams. And there is also a spiritual guided scene where one character enters the dream world of another. I identified with this movie on a spiritual level.
Movie : Donnie Darko
Year : 2001
Starring : Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Mary McDonnel
Synopsis : A troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes, after narrowly escaping a bizarre accident.
My Thoughts : Absolute cult classic. People often see their future in their dreams. And this case, Donnie saw a potential Tangent future and made a dark decision that destroyed that future entirely.
Excerpt: Chapter 12 from the Philosophy of Time Travel : Dreams
When the Manipulated awaken from their Journey into the Tangent Universe, they are often haunted by the experience in their dreams. Many of them will not remember.
Those who do remember the Journey are often overcome with profound remorse for the regretful actions buried within their Dreams, the only physical evidence buried within the Artifact itself, all that remains from the lost world.