A One Mann’s Movies review of “Dreamers” (From the 2025 London Film Festival). (2025, 3*, ’15’).
As I mentioned in my review of “Promised Sky“, on my first day of LFF films, that film dealt with one aspect of the UK immigration problem…. immigrants arriving at their ‘first stop’ of Tunis in their journey from sub-Saharan Africa. Now with “Dreamers”, we end up at the other end – an immigration centre in the UK, where immigrants are ‘housed’ (read ‘jailed’) awaiting a decision on their status by the UK Home Office. It’s a subject that is in the sweet-spot for a dramatic film and “Dreamers” goes some way, but not all the way, to fulfilling that.
One Mann’s Movies Rating:
Plot:
Isio (Ronke Adekoluejo) is a Nigerian migrant freshly placed at a UK detention centre after seeking asylum from persecution as an (illegal) homosexual in her home country. There she finds danger, love and frustration with the legal system.
Certification:
UK: NR; US: NR. (The film has not yet been rated by the BBFC but I would expect it to be a 15 for language and some sexual content.)
Talent:
Starring: Ronke Adekoluejo, Ann Akinjirin, Aiysha Hart, Diana Yekinni, Kemi Adekoya, Damola Adelaja, Cain Aiden, Jamie Bacon, Kerry Howard, Dolapo Oni.
Directed by: Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor.
Written by: Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor.
Running Time: 1h 18m.
Summary:
Positives:
- A great subject for a dramatic film.
- Good performances, particularly from Ronke Adekoluejo and Ann Akinjirin.
Negatives:
- Never quite decides what genre it wants to be and rather falls between the stools.
- The finale felt unlikely.
Full Review of “Dreamers”:
Falling between multiple stools.
I found this quite an engaging watch, but came away with the view that it didn’t really know what film it wanted to be. A gritty ‘prison’ drama? A lesbian love story? A dramatic legal battle? The Great Escape? It never quite managed to be any of these things with any great conviction.
Prison drama.
The establishment is flagged as an “asylum removal centre”, but in terms of similarity to a particular movie genre this is a prison drama. We have the usual tropes of such films: the prison exercise yard, where a gang, led by Afia (Dolapo Oni), demands cash-for-protection; we have a dodgy prison guard, James (James Bacon), getting sexual favours for special treatment; we have the ‘newbie process’ where newcomers are given the same spiel each time by the more experienced inmates.
Where it differs (and where I expected it to go more) was in the submission of the case for asylum and the appeals process. This is quite stylishly done with Isio appealing directly to the lens of the camera, describing the events that led her to flee the country. But I’d have liked to have seen more of this process and the sort of interrogating questions that followed this statement.
Comradeship.
Where the film does succeed is in establishing a nice comradeship between Isio (Ronke Adekoluejo) and the ‘gang of three’ that comprises her room-mate (and ultimately lover) Farah (Ann Akinjirin), Atefah (Aiysha Hart) and Nana (Diana Yekinni). All these friends have different stories and reasons for being there. Farah has fled from the terror of Boko Haram in West Africa (my memories of the documentary “The Spectre of Boko Haram” are still strong); Atefah is a refugee from Iraq; and Nana is fleeing from issues in Ghana.
All are working through the process of their application for UK entry, for which they can have three appeals before being forcibly deported: a process that is as brutal as it sounds with the women being forcibly ripped from their dorm rooms.
“Freedom begins in the mind”.
Where this all really seemed to take liberties was in the sense of hopelessness that all the women have: forcible deportation seemed inevitable to them. It set me to investigate the actual figures. The Refugee Council posts the following figures: that “47% of initial decisions made in the twelve months to March 2025 were grants of protection, meaning they have been awarded refugee status or humanitarian protection.” and that “Refusals are often overturned on appeal.” This doesn’t seem to be reflected in the drama presented.
The hopelessness presented here leads to some rash action in the finale, which felt somewhat implausible to me.
Delivered in style.
With all that being said, the film delivers its story with some style, even though it feels a bit more like a “Play for Today” style of BBC drama than a full feature film. The stylish flashbacks to Isio’s torrid sexual past, featuring a feathered and masked attacker, are well done and the sex scenes between Isio and Farah are sensitive, well-shot and non-exploitative. All of this is held together well by strong performances from Ronke Adekoluejo and Ann Akinjirin.
Summary Thoughts:
Prison dramas are ten-a-penny, but a movie focusing on an immigration detention centre process – particularly given the current febrile state of the topic in British politics – feels like a timely decision. It’s a decent little film and anything that ‘humanises’ these individuals, in the face of a lot of right-wing SHOUTING in the media, has to be a good thing in my book.
Tickets for the London Film Festival showings on 10th and 11th October are currently sold out, but here is the booking web site to check for returns or other showings.
Where to watch?
Trailer:
A teaser trailer for the film is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FPbG-8FiFU.
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