Come True 2021

Sara Dunn’s life is a tangled web of uncertainty, with a complicated relationship with her mother that remains shrouded in mystery. As a high schooler without a stable home base, she resorts to pilfering food from her mother’s residence and bedding down at friends’ homes or under the stars, resulting in chronic sleep deprivation that hampers her ability to stay focused during class hours and throughout the day. Her troubled psyche is further exacerbated by vivid, surreal nightmares featuring a labyrinthine maze and an unsettling figure with eyes that burn like embers.

In desperation for financial stability, Sara agrees to participate in a sleep study, though the true nature and objectives of the experiment are veiled in secrecy. Initially, she sleeps soundly, but after two sessions, her nocturnal terrors begin to intensify, fueled by an escalating sense of unease. Her growing discomfort is compounded by the discovery that Riff, one of the young scientists, has been tracking her outside of the study, and Emily, the only other female participant, seemingly drops out without explanation. Sara’s anxiety reaches a boiling point when a researcher presents her with a photograph of the very same shadowy figure that haunts her dreams, prompting a panic attack and an overwhelming sense of frustration at the scientists’ refusal to disclose the true purpose of the study. The head scientist, Dr. Meyer, intervenes to put the kibosh on unapproved methods employed by the younger researchers following Sara’s distressing experience.

As tensions escalate, Sara finds herself reeling from a harrowing encounter with the shadowy figure at a local laundromat, resulting in the theft of her phone and a desperate need for answers. She confronts Riff, insisting that the study has had a profoundly negative impact on her well-being and demanding to know its true purpose before she continues as a test subject. Riff finally reveals the shocking truth: the experiment involves monitoring subjects’ dreams using a cutting-edge brain scanning device that converts brainwaves into visual representations.

During the next session, Sara and the remaining volunteers experience a collective nightmare featuring the same shadowy figure, with their vital signs spiking in tandem. Riff shares his own dark history with the entity, revealing that it has haunted him since childhood, just as it appears to be haunting others across the globe and throughout history. As Sara awakens in a state of panic, bleeding from her left eye, she makes a break for freedom, pursued by Riff as she stumbles towards a local club in search of her friend Zoe. Her exhaustion finally catches up with her, forcing her to collapse, and Riff must carry her unconscious form through the crowded streets.

As the laboratory’s remaining volunteers succumb to the insidious influence of the shadowy apparition, their minds become entangled in a web of sleep paralysis, where they’re forced to confront the dark presence that haunts their dreams. The scientists are left reeling as the entity begins to exert its malevolent power over the waking world. When one of them ventures into the volunteers’ room, the figure extends a spectral hand, sending shivers down the spine and causing the monitoring system to crash.

Sara’s own descent into the realm of nightmares is precipitated by a surreal episode in which she finds herself in Riff’s apartment, where she discovers his peculiar habit of monitoring his own dreams. Her eyes are opened to the dark recesses of his subconscious as she witnesses a dream sequence that sees them morphing into creatures with fangs and sharing a kiss. But it’s not just Riff who’s tormented by the shadow figure – Sara soon finds herself trapped in her own hellish visions, where the two of them confront the darkness together. The shared trauma proves too much to bear, and they succumb to a primal urge, their bodies entwined as they seek solace in each other.

As Riff waits anxiously for news of Sara’s condition, his own dreams become increasingly turbulent, filled with visions of a labyrinthine maze and a humanoid figure that seems to be stalking him. It’s not until he learns that Sara has slipped out of the hospital, her eyes bleeding as she sleepwalks through the city, that he realizes the true extent of their shared affliction.

Riff’s colleague, Anita, arrives on the scene, and together they deploy a mobile monitor to track Sara’s unconscious wanderings. As they follow her into the woods, it becomes clear that her dream is mirroring their journey, with shadowy figures manifesting on the monitor as they move deeper into the forest. When Riff stumbles upon a forgotten cellphone in the grass, the phone’s ringing pierces the air, and Sara awakens to a world of terror.

As Riff tries to comfort his shaken companion, she reveals that the phone belongs to her – a claim that seems impossible given her lack of familiarity with the location. But as they turn to flee from the encroaching darkness, it becomes clear that Sara is no longer in control. The screen on her phone flickers with static electricity, and though awake, she’s beset by visions of shadowy figures lurking in the trees.

The trio flees in panic, but it’s too late – both Anita and Riff are consumed by the darkness as Sara stands frozen, approached by the very entity that has haunted their dreams.

As Sara’s consciousness stirs once more within Riff’s apartment, she finds herself in a state of utter disorientation, her body entwined with that of the lifeless Riff, whose vacant stare seems to bore into her very soul. The eerie silence is shattered only by the soft rustling of her own naked form as she slowly comes to terms with her surroundings. A trip to the bathroom provides a fleeting respite from the macabre tableau, whereupon she discovers a cryptic message on her phone that sends a wave of morbid fascination washing over her. The text, devoid of any sentimentality, reveals the unthinkable truth: twenty long years have passed since her coma-inducing accident, and scientists have been studying her very dreams using some revolutionary new technique. As if this revelation weren’t jarring enough, Sara’s gaze falls upon her reflection in the mirror, where she beholds a stranger whose features are marred by the unmistakable presence of fangs. The message, devoid of any comforting reassurances, urges her to awaken before the screen fades to black, leaving her with an existential crisis that threatens to consume her very being.