Dreams in Nightmares

Three Black girls (Z, Tasha, and Lauren) embark on a weeks-long journey across the Midwest and down to Mexico in search of someone dear to them: Kel, a non-binary friend who’s been out of touch for some time. The four of them have been inseparable since childhood, but their closeness isn’t built solely on high school memories. It’s present, powerful, brutally honest, and stubbornly tender, reinforced by the shared experience of being Black and queer in today’s America. Director Shatara Michelle Ford explains that the road movie format was essential to show how much that experience varies depending on where in the United States you happen to be. Dreams in Nightmares is both visually arresting and sonically rich, intense in its emotion and sharp in its storytelling. Scenes often hit without warning, but more often they lead us steadily through the complexity of love and sex, the knots of family silence, and the darkness of prejudice, fear, and trauma. It’s a film that stirs and soothes in equal measure. It reminds us that friendship is always there - and if we’re patient enough, there might even be fireworks.