Dreams become a reality
When Human Voices Wake Us

Stars: Helena Bonham-Carter and Guy Pearce. Madman productions. Rated M. 149 mins.

Reviewer :: PTE Simone Heyer

Dr Sam Frank doesn’t dream. He explains this away, saying the subconscious prevents mind analysts from dreaming to hide their true character.

As a child he promises to meet his soul mate in dreams, then she is snatched away. To hide his sadness, he stops dreaming. The repressed sadness has Sam beginning to live out his unacknowledged dreams, 20 years on. He meets Ruby on the way back to his hometown and is forced to come to terms with his childhood and heal himself.

When Human Voices Wake Us starts as a charming country Australian film with a few strong characters that make up the community. It’s the story of two young soul mates, best friends who share the school holidays together until Sylvia is taken. Sam doesn’t have the support of his father and scorns the support of Sylvia’s family, who have enough love to share with him.

When Sam returns for his father’s funeral, 20 years later, the people he knew are gone and only material possessions bring his childhood back. From this stage, the movie takes a surreal quality – a sort of mentally strained haze. Aside from this, an enjoyable film.