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Mental illness is always a challenge. For those affected, the family, but also for filmmakers who take on the extremely complex, often stigmatised and prejudiced subject matter and try to tell moving and impressive stories that neither romanticise reality nor put their foot in their mouth: Because if you move into such sensitive territory with your plot, missteps are hardly forgivable and can quickly lead to a (sometimes fatal) misrepresentation. Director Luke Eve and writer Glen Dolman are no newcomers to the field, however, and “The Girl of Your Dreams” is already the third project with a heavy core theme. While the series productions “Low Life” dealt with depression and “High Life” with bipolar disorder, the first feature film by the Australian duo Eve and Dolman follows the young musician Devon, whose reality is shaken by his unpredictable schizophrenia, which keeps putting obstacles in his way.

What it’s about…

Perth-born Devon Cassidy (Brenton Thwaites) is a passionately gifted singer and songwriter. If it weren’t for the two voices that have accompanied the young man since he was twelve, his life would probably be anything but spectacular. But when the performance at his brother Nick’s (Joel Jackson) wedding goes horribly wrong, his imaginary companions become increasingly louder and scatter doubt, fear and risk. After a stay in hospital, he is initially placed once again with his caring brother and his wife Olivia (Zahra Newman). However, as they are expecting their first child, there is not much room left for Devon in the home and moving out seems the only logical consequence. Shocked and at the same time plagued by his morbid episodes, lacking courage and confidence, he throws himself off the roof of a house. However, miraculously, he awakens the next morning in the flat of Lucy (Lily Sullivan). The fun-loving and swashbuckling woman takes Devon’s heart by storm and after a fulfilling night together, there’s not much left but a note that leads Devon to travel across the country from Perth to Sidney.

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Review

As a romantic drama, “The Girl of Your Dreams” first of all uses the classic narrative structure of a rom-com and follows it rather rigidly in the first half of the film. For when Devon shows the audience his bumpy road so far in a short introduction, it is clear that the wedding cannot have a good end right away, but also that the jump from the roof of the house will not be the end of his story and Lucy will hardly be more than a dream. Or that the day with her was merely his fantasy and probably never took place in this form. Unfortunately, the German title obviously straddles exactly this situation, which was supposed to make the audience sympathise with Devon.

The film simply doesn’t know how to surprise enough and prefers to play it safe. However, it is probably mainly thanks to Brenton Thwaites that the film still has a charming magic that is hard to resist over the course of the running time and that helps to overcome the only moderately good first section of the film. Stereotypical characters (Lucy even seems to be assigned the role of saviour for the main character) or the random (and thus not entirely realistic) road trip are more striking cornerstones that do not necessarily work for the film and stylise the story too much.

Here, the film simply knows too little to surprise and prefers to play it safe. However, it is probably mainly thanks to Brenton Thwaites that the film still has a charming magic that is hard to resist over the course of the running time and that helps to overcome the only moderately good first section of the film. For stereotypical characters (Lucy even seems to be assigned the role of saviour for the main character) or the random (and thus not entirely realistic) road trip, are more striking cornerstones that don’t necessarily work for the film and stylise the story too much.

On the other hand, when the audience witnesses again and again how Devon’s health restrictions make life and the hopeful road trip hell at times and how even his medication doesn’t always serve the purpose it was supposed to, the film plays to a certain strength. In those moments, “The Girl of Your Dreams” provides an insight into the clinical picture of schizophrenia, where abrupt leaps of thought and distortions of reality are otherwise difficult to comprehend and which, of course, also pose immense challenges.

This is also the case with Devon’s brother Nick, who naturally sees himself as responsible and wants to support and help his younger brother as much as he can, but still faces seemingly insurmountable hurdles, so that some situations end in despair and helplessness. In this way, the film “The Girl of Your Dreams” primarily succeeds in adding a new facet in the second half and offers the audience a new opportunity to empathise. With two characters who now have to deal with the situation much more clearly and each in a very different way, the director also opens up the possibility of saying goodbye to the classic rom-com and establishing a drama, albeit one that is not too heavy. It is only towards the end that the ensemble is able to give their characters more depth and add a bit of seriousness to the story, so that one would have liked to see a bit more at the end.

Conclusion

The Girl of Your Dreams begins as a classic, at times almost too stereotypical rom-com, but ends up as a charming drama with good acting performances that unfold several facets in the course of the film and offer approachable points of contact. Even though the first half of the film and the random narrative structure are not entirely convincing, under the guise of a romantic drama there is an entertaining, sometimes light-footed, sometimes thrilling film.

How did you like the movie?
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