Film Review: I RARELY WAKE UP DREAMING: War and Gender Identity Collide in a Wrenching Dramatic Film [Locarno 2026]

I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming Review

I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming Review (2026) Film Review from the 79th Annual Locarno Film Festival, a movie directed by Isabelle Stever, written by Anna Melikova and starring Tania Myronyshena, Markus Bright, Irina Mak, Viktor Zhdanov, Maiia Sobolevska, Maria Myronyshena and Oleksandr Rudynskyi.

There are a number of powerful moments in filmmaker Isabelle Stever’s thought-provoking new film, I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming, which is about a queer couple’s tribulations during the war against Ukraine. Russia’s invasion has a young girl within the movie on her phone cursing out the country that has devastated her circumstances and it’s a small moment in a movie full of larger moments which coalesce to form a truly profound look at human relationships and how gender factors into the equation when push comes to shove in so many different ways. Is one expected to serve one’s country because of one’s sex or the sex that they identity with? This film’s topics blur the lines between what is expected from a moralistic standpoint and what is just during wartime.

Two great central performances shape this film and give it meaning. Director Isabelle Stever’s hard-hitting movie never lets up, especially because of the committed performances by the leads. Tania Myronyshena as Olya and Markus Bright as Oleh commandeer this film’s draining story of layered proportions in which these two characters try to compromise in order to find common ground in their relationship, yet may ultimately lose all hope under the most heartbreaking of circumstances.

While the war on Ukraine is portrayed impeccably in a realistic fashion, there are a number of scenes that cut right to the bone in their bleakness. Olya and Oleh met as women, but one of them now identifies as a man. Because of this fact, there is a label of mental instability placed upon this character, Oleh, which only serves to further complicate something that is commonplace in the world today – gender biases.

An early sequence filmed in a long shot outside a bedroom is haunting. This film establishes the passions of the lead characters and demonstrates their emotional connection as human beings quite effectively. There’s a lot more to come, however, and it only gets more frighteningly intense the more the film proceeds on.

Take a scene where our lead who identifies as a man, Oleh, is told that because of the gender that the character identifies with, that more is expected than what is on the surface. Trying to flee Ukraine would be expected of a woman, but not a man who has more responsibilities than a woman, according to the common perception and those in authority. However, it’s more complex than that. If one wants to simply look at gender, then Oleh’s point that there are female parts below would hold true. Then, there’s the mental health “label” which should automatically disqualify Oleh from having any further response to the war from a moral or legal standpoint. This film proves that there is a lot more going on than simplicity in this very delicate manner.

There is a moving, simplistic scene where two of our characters in the picture must respond to someone crying on the other end of a phone. There’s little understanding by this pair of women in regard to how to formulate an appropriate response to someone’s emotions working overtime. Or maybe, the reality is that it’s time to stop supporting someone’s emotions in a situation where all emotions are running at a rapid-fire rate.

The performances are first-rate. Myronyshena is explosive with the performer’s eyes becoming windows of the soul in so many ways. There’s heartbreak and regret in the excesses showcased in the movie’s plot, but there’s also real love that is conveyed on-screen through Myronyshena’s central role which allows Myronyshena to score a home run in terms of creating emotions that run the gamut from hot to cold and make key choices come into question at given intervals.

Bright has a tricky role here, making us understand the way things will develop as the movie goes on due to the fragility of the situation at the film’s core. I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming allows Bright to evoke pride in creating a character that has harrowing responsibilities that are thrust upon the already complicated task of finding self-value, self-identity and ultimately family values.

I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming is not an easy watch as you may expect. Those unforeseeable realities that set in during times of war or despair are on-hand and the filmmaker gets under the viewer’s skin with scenes that just flat-out show how a situation like gender identity could unfold in so many different ways to either make one embrace a beautiful life or endure drastic hardships that are absolutely heartbreaking to behold. The ending, in particular, packs a punch and is simply unforgettable. Families can be torn apart by war in so many different ways and this film explores one of the most unique ways in a probing manner.

Rating: 8/10

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