Dream Eater (2025) Film Review - Unnamed Footage Festival

Dream Eater is a 2024 Canadian found footage horror film written and directed by Alex Lee Williams, Jay Drakulic, and Mallory Drumm. After her partner injures himself during a bout of parasomnia, filmmaker Mallory (Mallory Drumm) takes her boyfriend, Alex (Alex Lee Williams), to an isolated cabin in the Laurentian mountains to document his behavior. As time passes, Alex becomes more violent toward Mallory and himself. Combined with a sharp personality change during episodes of parasomnia, Mallory begins to suspect something sinister is starting to take over Alex.

Beyond its obvious Lovecraftian inspirations — featuring an ancient deity from an otherworldly realm— Dream Eater hinges much of its story on exploring the helplessness of losing a loved one. Thankfully, the portrayal of a partner uncontrollably spiraling into darkness and the emotions it conjures is where Dream Eater succeeds the most. Central to this is the believable performance from Alex Lee Williams and Mallory Drumm, who express comfort with each other and come across as very legitimate. This includes everything from crass jokes that seem to stem from years of partnership, a willingness to work together, and familiar arguments of long-term couples; William and Drumm’s performance will enamor many to their characters, creating a desire to see them overcome the unspeakable evil they face together.

As evil creeps into the relationship, Dream Eater builds an intimidating, dark atmosphere that continues to build throughout. The production stays unnerving, with Alex’s episodes marked by cryptic words or bizarre behavior. Slight jump scares are used to great success through each of these transformations. All these elements, the horror, the relationship, and the unknown horrors, successfully culminate in the film’s final moments — I am purposely keeping it spoiler-free, as it is best experienced as blind as possible.

Visually, the movie is highly polished and, at times, feels more like a hybrid found footage film (mixing elements of more ‘traditional’ filmmaking approaches). However, the sleek cinematography comes from successfully using different types of cameras to keep the visuals engaging. The only caveat here that will have some of the fandom up in arms is the use of music for dramatic effect. The score adds tension and is not overly intrusive, but for many, a score’s inclusion will be an unwelcome breaking of the established found footage rules.

Despite its polish, the visual reveal of the ‘monster’ is a bit disappointing. This is a minor gripe as, storywise, it is perfection, but the image of an ancient being is brief and slightly underwhelming. However, one somewhat disappointing element is that the feature stays rather tame. The effects and scares are relatively minimal for a big concept that could have allowed for more sensational moments.

I can see some viewers disconnecting from Dream Eater if they don’t vibe with the relationship between Alex and Mallory, as it is essential to building that sense of dread. However, beyond this potential shortcoming and a desire to push some of the elements further, the film is a near-flawless entry into the genre. Capturing both unimaginable terrors and the real horrors of losing a loved one, Dream Eater is a Lovecraftian tragedy unlike any other. It’s a cosmic treat for fans of found footage horror.