Strawberry Mansion

“Strawberry Mansion” is a refreshingly authentic indie film. In a landscape of cookie-cutter films, “Strawberry Mansion” is 100 percent original.

Many films have been made either about dreams or taking place within dreams, but “Strawberry Mansion” was the first that gave the feeling of actually being in the dream itself. It’s a beautiful blend of nonsensical, whimsical, fantastic surrealism that I found satisfying from start to finish.

The film centers on James Preble (Kentucker Audley), a taxman living in the not-so-distant future. However, he taxes the content of people’s dreams and then as it is now, you get nickeled and dimed for everything. He receives an assignment to audit Arabella (Penny Fuller), known as Bella, an aging artist whose eccentric nature is evident from their initial encounter. He must review and tax her dreams which are captured on more than 2,000 VHS tapes – a format that was outlawed seven years prior.

Bella lives in a, you guessed it, strawberry-colored mansion. Mansion might be overstating the home’s grandeur, but it’s a big house, it’s a pink color and things happen there that Preble hasn’t encountered before. He sets up shop in an upstairs room to review and tax her dreams but soon finds himself enchanted by her analog dreams and falling in love with the younger version of Bella (played by Grace Glowicki).

As he begins to break from his conditioned beliefs, Preble finds that much of what he thought was the content of his own dreams were placement for ads and conditioning for specific behaviors. He also encounters Bella’s son Peter (Reed Birney), who is a complete 180 from his mother and a more sinister player in the dream world that Preble realizes.

“Strawberry Mansion” was a welcomed surprise. It does have its problems, but the story and visions are so enchanting they’re easily overlooked. Audley, Glowicki and Birney are excellent, but Fuller is mesmerizing. As quickly as Preble falls in love with young Bella, you’ll find yourself falling in love with Fuller. Her portrayal of Bella is both rich and wise and the weight just a look carries is fantastic.

Audley and Albert Birney served as co-writers and co-directors and put together a complex movie in both its themes and visuals. It’s one of my favorite films of 2022 so far.

“Strawberry Mansion” is a refreshingly authentic indie film that puts storytelling and dreamlike visuals on full display. In a landscape of cookie-cutter films, “Strawberry Mansion” is 100 percent original.