Back in 2020, Alex Prager received the “YearQuil” meme from her sister Vanessa Prager. The image joked about creating a version of NyQuil that will let you sleep until the world returns to normal. However, their conversation took a more pessimistic turn, with them asking, “What if 2020 lasts forever?”
This became the basis for DreamQuil, Alex’s feature directorial debut, co-written with Vanessa.
DreamQuil centers around Carol (Elizabeth Banks), whose marriage to her husband (John C. Reilly) is falling apart. She is sick of her life as it is, and out of desperation, tries a digital wellness retreat called DreamQuil. The event is hosted by a murky corporation promising a miraculous rejuvenation.
Things really start to go sideways when Carol returns home to find out that part of the program is her son (Toby Larsen) and husband are being taken care of by her doppelgänger, Carol 2 (or Carol Too). She is faced with a threat to herself and her family in the form of a flawless homemaker robot.
Developing DreamQuil
“The effects of the pandemic and how that would transform into a film could be really fun and entertaining to watch,” Alex told The Hollywood Reporter, about how they conceived the idea. “And we could also talk about a way to reclaim our humanity — by inviting us into our own collapse.”
Films like Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance and Ryan Murphy’s The Beauty have certainly made body horror as a means for social commentary a hot commodity right now.
“Body horror as a genre is a response to living in the world where we’re making fake versions of ourselves now, all the time,” Banks says. “The notion of uploading ourselves into a better version is really enticing for people.”
“I could be presenting to you as AI on this Zoom right now, and how would you know that it’s not me?” she adds via Zoom. “We’re already filtering ourselves. My skin already looks better, I already look younger. It’s so wild that we’re not facing this real reality that’s coming down the pike, and that is really affecting our mental health in a deep way.”
Banks is also a producer on DreamQuil and was heavily involved with guiding Prager through its development.
DreamQuil premieres March 16th at SXSW.
