Director/writer Dan Egan explores the challenges of adapting to changes in his retro sci-fi short film Dream Machine. Marco (Javier Ronceros) is an aging old-school auto mechanic who owns the Dream Machine auto shop. His skills and experience are for ground-based cars. He is trying to make it in a world where personal transport is being taken over by flying cars. These are not the multi-rotor electric ‘roided-out drones that we will soon be seeing as “flying cars.” Marco is watching above him as late 1950s, 3500-lb Chevy Belair-looking chunks of iron cruise through the sky. They are lit up with neon, glowing like the radioactive car in Repo Man.
Marco is struggling to survive, and his wife Isabela (Rosa Delgado) is doing her best to deal with his anger and frustration. She, too, is affected by the impending demise of ground-based auto repair and is also suffering through Marco’s alcohol-fueled decline along with it. He seems to have given up, putting a terrible strain on their marriage. He appears to be an immigrant chasing his own dream, but the world is passing him by. Much like horsemen when the automobile began its ascension, Marco must adapt or die, as must we all.
Marco and Isabela outside their desert auto shop as flying cars cruise the skies above in Dream Machine.
“…old-school auto mechanic watching the world pass him by as flying cars take over…”
When one of these flying behemoths crashes into the yard of his desert auto shop, Marco rolls it into the garage to peek under the hood, despite hating the idea of the flying car. It turns out his skills are transferable to this technology, and he is able to fix it for a grateful customer.
The cinematography is beautiful, showing desert scenes and big skies in beautiful color. The flying cars are ludicrous, of course. We know they will be made of carbon graphite and electric motors. That said, Egan isn’t showing us our future as seen from 2025. He’s painting a picture of the future as we used to imagine it, reminding us that the future is not what it used to be. The animation of flying cars in this film is intentionally cartoon-ish. This story focuses on the relationships of people in a changing world. There is very little dialogue. The narrative is powered by the strong performances of Ronceros and Delgado, telling us what we need to know with facial expression and body language.
With the encroachment of AI and other advancing technologies into the spaces of artists and artisans, Dream Machine presents a poignant look at the human cost of changing times.
Learn more at the official Dream Machine website.
"…a poignant look at the human cost of progress and automation..."
