I’m glad to see Dreams earning a cinema release in Australia but I’m also surprised it’s taken this long.  It was released in its home country of Norway in October 2024, it won the prestigious Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in February 2025, and it played the film festival circuit thereafter.  It can consider itself unlucky not to be Norway’s Oscar submission earlier this year, but it ran into the juggernaut which was Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value.

Dreams is heavy on narration, at least in the first act, and while this can sometimes be a distraction, it’s necessary to fit the material.  The story is told from the perspective of Johanne (Øverbye), a 17-year-old higher schooler who has developed a crush on her female French teacher.  She’s scholastically intelligent but when it comes to love, her immaturity and naivety is evident.  She shouldn’t even be considering such a romantic connection, but her mind won’t let it go.  I must point out that the feelings are not reciprocated and so while we hear Johanne’s inner thoughts, the teacher is oblivious and there is no physical intimacy between the pair.

With no friends or family to immediately confide in, Johanne needs an “outlet” and so she pens a quasi-book where she can explain her thoughts and fantasies.  Months pass and she ultimately finds the courage to share her writings with her open-minded grandmother (Jacobsen) who subsequently shares it with Johanne’s mother (Torp).  They debate it intensely.  Should they have probed more into Johanne’s melancholy at the time?  Should they mention it to the teacher or the school?  Given how beautiful the words are, should they spin things in a more positive way and get Johanne to go public by publishing the novel?

Written and directed by Dag Johan Haugerud (I Belong, Beware of Children) is an unorthodox coming-of-age tale which never tries to oversimplify its premise.  It’s a tricky situation and we see the key characters debate the issues with respect.  No one wants to make a rash decision, and they respect for alternative points of view.  It deftly captures the mental fragility of being a teenager and the limitations by which parents can help.  The performances are excellent with Ane Dahl Torp skilfully capturing the emotions, through both her narration and expressions, of the tortured Johanne.

Offering added commentary about liberalism and same-sex relationships, Dreams is another interesting Norwegian export.  Worth your time and money.