Despite their much ballyhooed reputation for keeping doctors away, apples, it seems, got nothing for homicidal maniacs. Just the opposite, in fact; that red tempting tree fruit practically serves as the calling card for the nutty nihilist of 1999’s In Dreams. It’s a smorgasbord of cinematography full of lush tones and spooky palettes that frame a smart but creepy mind warp of a film which bobs deftly between thriller and slasher. Heavy on cast, quick on pace and thick with with tension, it’s hard to pinpoint just why its red deliciousness hasn’t settled well with more critics, but we here at ScreamFish eat it up. Stay tuned as we regurgitate what it’s taught us. This may get a little wormy…
Poor Claire Cooper (Annette Bening). Not only is she suspicious that her flyboy husband, Paul (Aidan Quinn) is having an affair, but she’s got those annoying premonitory dreams that never predict winning lotto numbers. Nope. Instead, Claire only dreams of tragedy to come. In her latest vision, she sees a young girl abducted by a shadowy man who carries her off to an even shadier orchard. It turns out the little girl is not just any little girl, but Claire’s little girl, Rebecca (Katie Sagona), who is subsequently never heard from again.
Claire goes off the deep end, bordering on catatonia for months. And just as she is beginning to come around, the shadowy figure returns, haunting her dreams with secrets of his own past that drive her to a suicide attempt. Hospitalized, her prophetic dreams come back in full force. And over and over, she keeps seeing Paul, murdered and alone, in a hotel at the far end of town. But no matter how hard she tries to convince her doctor that he needs to warn the police, he won’t take her seriously. Because, after all, Claire’s crazy, right?
Ever try and talk to a non-believer about Jesus?
Welcome to Claire’s world.
When we try to share the Gospel (or, perhaps, even defend it), it can feel like we are a lone voice screaming in a padded-wall wilderness, insane and unacknowledged. To the agnostic or the Atheist, our points of view mean nothing, regardless of how much evidence we may present. And that’s because at the end of it all, once we’ve exhausted all the scientific, historical and contextual ammo we have in our arsenal, our Faith comes down to our faith. And for those weighing the perceived inaccuracies of the Bible against a need for physical proof, faith just isn’t a convincing enough argument to make them change their minds.
But maybe the most maddening part of it all is that is not up to us–or our faith–to convince them otherwise.
Christ is the only one who can change their minds. And we can argue until He comes back, but until they chose to listen to Him and not us, the Gospel will fall on deaf ears. Should we abandon our efforts to share it? Most certainly not. But we should realize that this is in fact all we can do–share the Gospel. It’s not up to us to shout others down, fight tooth and nail or go crazy in the process. All we are called to do is deliver the message in love and sincerity and then get out of God’s way. Let them sleep on it for a while.
And if He takes over, it’ll work like a dream.
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