‘I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming’ Review: A Ukrainian Trans Man and His Wife Face Excruciating Choices in a Sensitive, Sensuous Drama

A Ukrainian queer couple face challenges unimaginable for most Western LGBTQI+ folk in I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming, a nuanced, finely lined drama that premiered in Locarno’s main competition. Produced by Tom Tykwer and Uwe Schott, this represents a second feature collaboration, after Grand Jeté, for married couple Anna Melikova, a Ukrainian writer, and German director Isabelle Stever, who were inspired by friends’ experiences back in Ukraine after the Russian invasion of 2022.

Dreaming explores what happens when 21st-century gender fluidity collides with the more rigid identity categories enforced by the state in a time of war. The core dramatic dilemma is thrust on fully transitioned trans man Oleh (Markus Bright), who suddenly faces military conscription along with the majority of Ukraine’s cis male population. Or, to paraphrase two cis female soldiers who turn Oleh back at the border, if he wants to be a man then he’ll have to fight for his country.

I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming

The Bottom Line

Love in a time of war.