Monday Morning Maybe

Add your email and we'll match picks to the services you stream at home.

Poster for Dreams

Dreams

Seen it?

1990 | 119 min | Fantasy, Drama

Sunday Safe Bet

Why it’s a Sunday Safe Bet

It's still drawing plenty of interest, though it had a box office loss. A safe bet when you want something reliable.

Based on critics, audiences, awards, box office and buzz. Details below.

Is it for you?

Who'll love it
Made for fantasy fans. If you loved The Green Mile or Big Fish, start here.
The mood
Thoughtful and character-driven.
The pace
Takes its time with its characters, at 1 hr 59 min.
What might put you off
  • Rated PG: scary moments. Worth a look first if you have very young kids.
  • It's in Japanese, so expect subtitles (or a dub).

Eight visually rich vignettes drawn from Kurosawa’s own dreams—fox weddings and vanished orchards, a soldier’s ghosts, a walk through Van Gogh’s canvases, nuclear nightmares, and a water-mill utopia—meditate on childhood, art, mortality, and humanity’s uneasy bond with nature.

How it earned its rating

  • CriticsSolid

    67% on Rotten Tomatoes

  • AudiencesSolid

    7.7 out of 10

  • AwardsNot counted

    No major awards or nominations

  • Box office & staying powerBelow par

    $3 million worldwide on a $12 million budget; still draws a steady audience long after release

  • Buzz & cultural impactStrong

    About 160K people sought it out in the past year

Trailer

More like this

Want more like this, picked just for you? Get my picks

Cast & crew

Directed by Akira Kurosawa

  • Akira TeraoI
  • Mitsuko BaishoMother of 'I'
  • Toshie NegishiMother carrying child
  • Mieko HaradaThe Snow Fairy
  • Mitsunori IsakiYoung I
  • Toshihiko NakanoChild I
  • Yoshitaka ZushiPvt. Noguchi
  • Hisashi IgawaNuclear Plant Worker
  • Chosuke IkariyaCrying Demon
  • Chishū RyūOld Man