The Dream Scene

Synopsis Dr. Sean Benstock, a well-respected sleep scientist and university lecturer, finds himself having multiple sleepless nights stringed together, resulting in insomnia symptoms. After a violent incident with a student in class, Dr. Benstock loses both his teaching and research positions, triggering a spiral into depression. During this period of sleeplessness, his thoughts become more and more ‘out there’, eventuating in a drug-induced theory that whilst he is awake, somebody else is asleep, an ‘opposite’. At the same time, Chris Hamilton, an established financial advisor, is on a business trip when he is randomly attacked by a pedestrian. The assault causes him to strike his head and he is placed in a coma. Dr. Benstock, who has managed to get a small amount of sleep, gains popularity once his idea goes viral on social media. He is interviewed by popular news stations and asked to speak at Universities, and realises that he must capitalise on this idea if he is to support himself financially- but one question remains: How can he find one person out of the world population, especially when their states of consciousness are opposite to each other? Chris recovers and recuperates in a hotel with his wife, Dianne, before he is fit to fly. At the hotel, his wife crosses paths with Dr. Benstock, who is quizzed about the possibility of somebody being awake the whole time her husband was in a coma. Dr. Benstock witnesses Chris’ wife Dianne die in tragic circumstances, without helping her, and later writes about the ordeal when interviewed. Chris reads the article, and begins a ‘hunt’ of the doctor in an attempt to avenge his wife. Chris is caught breaking into the sleeping doctors apartment by his assistant, Adam, and he is chased. During a fight between the two, Adam strikes Chris, killing him. The doctor, still asleep, is seen taking a sharp breath in and pausing before the picture cuts to black.