Hi! You’re reading an entry in the Jscars 2022, a series on my favorite movies of the year 2022. Go to my profile to view the previous entries!
“I think I’m losing my mind. It’s about time.”
I have a fair share of problems with the way streaming services operate. Overall they’re definitely a more convenient way to watch movies and TV shows, but I still have big gripes. I could be a total Boomer and complain about how watching a movie in a theater is still the best way to see it damn it and streaming services are killing that, but honestly that’s not my biggest issue. Frankly, I don't like the way their algorithms operate. Martin Scorsese, a man obviously smarter than me on the subject, already wrote an article on this topic, and I think it’s pretty good. But at the end of the day I just think sometimes it can be difficult to actually find new and interesting media, as opposed to being kept in a bubble of the same things the service wants you to watch. But every once in a while you can still find something truly special while you’re scrolling around. Every once in a while you find Strawberry Mansion.
Set in a future where dreams are taxed by the government, Strawberry Mansion tells the story of James Preble, an IRS agent tasked with auditing the dreams of an elderly woman who hasn’t had her dreams looked over in decades. But as he goes through her dreams he begins to discover things about himself, the woman, and the nature of how the government handles dreams. Since the movie is so focused on dreaming and what happens during them, it makes sense that there’s a lot of off the wall imagery and imaginative moments. I’ll try not to give away too many in case anyone reading this chooses to go out and watch the movie themselves (please), but one segment of the movie sees Preble captain of a ship with a crew composed entirely of rats in sailor outfits and the ship getting into a series of misadventures.
But this isn’t just one of my favorite movies of 2022 because of how creative it is when coming up with bizarre new scenarios, even if it is a big part of it. No, the biggest reason is just how much this movie spits in the face of “the system” so to speak, both within its actual plot and in how it presents itself. The movie’s exact budget is hard to find, but it’s clear from the very beginning that it can’t be particularly high. And yet the movie succeeds on its own terms anyway, making the most of its budget to craft a special experience, one that semi-regularly breaks the traditional “rules” of filmmaking, but it doesn’t matter. Nobody’s going to tell director Kentucker Audley and crew that they shouldn’t make this movie or how to make it. They’re going to keep moving forward with their dream. Fitting enough then that the plot centers around the government and corporations trying to control our dreams for their own purposes and at the expense of others. The story of the movie is a celebration of the power of human dreams and what they can help accomplish, and the movie’s existence itself is a prime example.
The main reason I started the Jscars in the first place back in 2018 was to try and share my favorite movies of the year with people, and possibly get them to check out movies they wouldn’t have otherwise. Now, I’m not going to pretend I’m some noble hero rescuing total obscurities from the darkness when half the movies I’ve written about were nominated for Oscars, but I still maintain some hope that I’ll convince people to check something out. And when it comes to a movie like Strawberry Mansion, a small passion project that spits in the face of anyone telling it what to do? At least this time I really do hope I can accomplish my mission of shining that spotlight.