DREAMS -- The Nuanced Thrill of First Love

Review by Camden Ferrell

Dag Johan Haugerud’s trilogy of movies that have been releasing throughout the summer  is being capped off with Dreams. This movie played at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival where it won the coveted Golden Bear, a prize given to the best film at the festival. The final part of this trilogy gorgeously captures the feeling of first love while balancing it with yet another round of insightful and conversational dialogue around the film’s central themes.
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Johanne is a 17 year old student who finds herself diving head first into a crush on her teacher (coincidentally named Johanna). These intense feelings of infatuation manifest itself into intimate writings from Johanne in an attempt to document what she’s feeling at a pivotal point in her life. Eventually, her mother and grandmother read these writings. This inspires conversations about love, intimacy, and the power of personal experiences and our attempts to express them. Like the previous movies in the trilogy, this premise tackles similar themes but from a different perspective, and it’s interesting to finally get the adolescent perspective on these subjects.

Haugerud’s writing feels distinctly different in certain sections of this movie. He employs a large amount of narration from Johanne which feels like watching a writer flex a muscle we haven’t seen much of yet. This allows us to become one with Johanne, and while it leaves little to the imagination, getting such an intimate look into her thought process is paramount in making this movie work. It works because it speaks to the universal experience of first love, and we naturally see so much of ourselves in Johanne. Outside of this, he employs his typical style of conversational dialogue to explore the themes presented in the trilogy. It definitely toes the line between realistic and overly scripted, but it still has some compelling insights even if it’s not as thought-provoking as the previous films.

The movie is led by a subtly brilliant Ella Øverbye who plays Johanne. She brings such a youthful wonder to the role that gives viewers a gateway into her mind. We see ourselves in her thoughts because we first see ourselves in her. This is in large part due to the relatable and nuanced performance on screen. It’s not showy, but it speaks volumes about an experience we all have had. She is surrounded with a supporting ensemble that commendably deliver with the material they are given even if it’s not nearly as memorable as Øverbye.

One of the aspects that I appreciated more than the previous entries was the music. Anna Berg’s score captures a sound that is so grandiose while being introspective and intimate in nature. It’s an oxymoronic auditory experience that seems to delicately balance the Earth-shattering perspective of first love while still retaining the more sincere and subdued aspects that make it such a thrillingly intimate experience. Pair this with more visual prowess from cinematographer Cecilie Semec, and you have a movie that beautifully captures the story that Haugerud is trying to tell.
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Dreams may not be the best movie of the trilogy, but it’s yet another brilliant showcase for the talents of everyone involved. It has the highest highs with how it captures first love but also has some dialogue that isn’t as strong as previous entries. Regardless, this is a trilogy of films that everyone should check out, and it’s one that speaks so strongly to the one emotion we all have the capability to express: love.
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Dreams is in theaters September 12.

Rating: 4/5