Fantasia International Film Festival 2025– For anyone who fondly recalls the 90s and shows like MTV’s 120 Minutes, featuring the hottest alternative rock bands, Lucid’s grungy, DIY aesthetic will feel like a music video from that era. However, the film is much more than a love letter to a time when MTV actually played music videos. It’s a twisted and demented exploration of the artistic process, complete with monsters and a deep dive into a young artist’s subconscious.
Directed by Ramsey Fendall and Deanna Milligan, Lucid is based on their short of the same name, which screened at Fantasia in 2023. Caitlin Acken Taylor stars as Mia, an artist who always has paint smeared on her clothes, cheeks, and even under her eyes. As dedicated as Mia is to her craft, she can never seem to please her fuddy duddy teacher or her classmates. The instructor tells her that she must create “something with heart.” Her work is more performance art than anything else, but no matter how hard she tries, she just can’t win approval from her peers and instructor. The constant disapproval causes her to lash out. She screams in silence and stabs inanimate objects with scissors. Taylor is really great in the role, showcasing punk rock rage, yet relatability in her character’s desire to find acceptance and understanding.
Early in the runtime, Mia uses a lucid dreaming elixir to break through her creative blocks. This has severe consequences. Mia becomes trapped in a horrifying and surreal landscape. It’s a dark, yet captivating journey into Mia’s subconscious. Of all the creatures that haunt the landscape, the reoccurring hair monster, played by and designed by Rupaul’s Drag Race Star Vivian Vanderpuss, is the most memorable. It slinks in the corners of the frame, torments Mia, and represents her troubled relationship with her mother. I’ve never seen a creature in any horror film that looks like the hair monster.
Other than the gnarly creature designs, the film stands out for its look and soundtrack. Shot in 35 and 16 mm, the film maintains a gritty, DIY aesthetic that lends itself to the narrative and Mia’s entire personality. Meanwhile, the sludgy and grungy songs capture the 90s well. The musicians featured include Marta Jaciubek-McKeever, of Fan Death, James Wollam, of Tears for Fears fame, and Ayla Tesler Mabe, of Calpurnia. So much about this film relies on the aesthetic and music to capture Mia’s personality and her demons. Thankfully, the music, look, and feel all really work.
If the film has any fault, it’s that some of the surreal sequences stretch on a bit too long and may be a little too weird for the average viewer. Some of them feel like student art films that could have been edited and trimmed down. That said, the film largely anchors itself to Mia’s narrative and character arc, so there’s enough here that’s grounded in reality to keep everything on track.
Lucid bursts with pure punk rock spirit and grit. It’s also a wild exploration of the artistic process, complete with gnarly monsters and chilling dreamscapes. This film feels like a love letter to a pre-internet era that we’ll never get back.
