Writer: Priyanka Padala (Hyderabad, Telangana, India)

Editor: Arpita Jena (Baripada, Odisha, India)

‘Lucid Dream’ is a 2017 South Korean mystery-thriller film. The science fiction was the director debut of Kim Joon-sung. His own experience with lucid dreaming and the 2010 films ‘Inception’ inspired him to write and direct this movie.

As the name suggests, the entire movie revolves around the concept of lucid dreaming. A lucid dream is a type of dream where one is aware that they are dreaming and up to certain extent have a control over their dreams. 

^{Picture Credit: THE KOREA HERALD}

The movie starts with Go Soo playing the character of Choi Dae-ho who is In a tense discussion with his senior. He is a hard working investigative journalist who exposes the corrupt politicians and businessmen.

This had earned him a lot of enemies who would wish for revenge. The movie gently turns onto a bright side with the visuals of a young child playing in his house. Choi Dae-ho Comes home to this adorable kid, Choi Min-ho, as he is the single father who takes care of him along with a nanny.

^{Picture Credit: ASIANWIKI}

The environment is quite cheerful as the father-son duo decide to spend their weekend at the amusement park. Things soon take on an ugly turn as Dae-ho finds his son missing from his merry go round ride.

Tensed, he looks around and tries to search for him when he struck with a needle and loses his consciousness. The last thing he sees before his vision turns easy is the blurred image of his son being taken away by a man.

^{Picture Credit: NETFLIX}

The story moves forward to three years where Choi Dae-ho is seen attacking an electoral candidate. The reason for such behavior is because he is convinced that his son was kidnapped by his enemies in order to take revenge.

The fact that no ransom was demanded even after three years of kidnap validated it. Choi Dae-ho still keeps searching for his kidnapped son as he believes that his son is still alive. He was desperate to look for his son and hence reached out again to the detective who took charge of his son’s case years ago. Together they pledge to find Choi Min-ho.

^{Picture Credit: YONHAP NEWS AGENCY}

In the meanwhile Dae-ho comes across an article on the Internet where the criminals were caught with the help of lucid dreaming. He reached out to his old friend So-hyeon, a physician who administers this therapy.

Choi Dae-ho was so determined to find his son that he got ready to undergo lucid dreaming in spite of its side effects. He started reliving the fateful day when his son was kidnapped and found a clue regarding the man that took away Choi Min-ho. That man had a strange tattoo on his hand.

^{Picture Credit: KOREAN FILM COUNCIL}

With the help of the hamburger seller at the amusement park, Dae-ho traced down the tattooed man. All his hopes soared high until he found that the tattooed man was hospitalized and was in a coma.

Though there was no light at the end of the tunnel, Choi Dae-ho decided not to give up on his son. It was when he met a man from his lucid dreams in the real world that he saw some hope again. He turned out to be a miracle as he knew the technique of entering into someone else’s dreams.

^{Picture Credit: YONHAP NEWS AGENCY}

With his help Dae-ho enters the dream of the tattooed man who abducted his son. The tattooed man’s vitals started dropping and little did they know that Choi Dae-ho would be trapped in his dreams if he dies.

Does Dae-ho get answers to his sons case? Does he get trapped in the dream of the tattooed man? Is Choi Min-ho really alive? Who and what was the reason Min-ho was kidnapped? To find out the answers to all these questions, watch ‘Lucid Dream’ on Netflix.

Have you watched Lucid Dream, and if not, would you dare to explore the mysteries of lucid dreaming after reading about it?