Dreams of a Life

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Jaea W Watched this documentary in May of 2024, I heard about this story some years ago and I love documentaries so I ordered it from the library. We really don't know what exactly happened to Joyce, did she die of malnourishment? Or abuse? I found many things wrong here. The film maker did not do a good job with showing us a timeline of things as things are written on a post it and skims by quickly that one has to pause the feature to read it as well as the newspaper articles about her. Many of the people interviewed did not seem to even care about Joyce in my opinion. The lady, and child portraying Joyce for the back story did a very nice job! I don't like that the last still shown of Joyce was granny altho they had many pics they could have shown of her! While I appreciate the making of this doc, it just wasn't done properly. I wish I had of known Joyce to help her, she proved to her ex Martin that she clearly needed more help than sleeping on his couch temporarily. I found it off that Joyce's sister's took no part in this doc, not one sister which in my opinion spoke volumes, how sad! Also there are contradictions, in the film, was Joyce 38 or 40 when she passed? Was she on the couch or the floor? I have many unanswered questions but the behind the scene feature provided a small amount of clarity. I hope Joyce is now at piece! Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/05/24 Full Review Audience Member This documentary will stay with you long after watching it. Its such a curious, strange, and sad story. I guess the only area not covered to enough detail for me was understanding her upbringing more and why her sisters were not part of the documentary. There seems to be far more to this story than is here. Nonetheless this is well worth watching. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member After reading the reviews, I debated watching this movie but ultimately chose to give it a viewing from the general fresh rating. Unfortunately, would not recommend, and hope this review helps anyone on the fence. An interesting premise, but the filled with mostly vacuous substance. Dreams of a Life juxtaposes how a charismatic and well-liked individual slid to the unnoticed fringe of society possibly through no intention of her own. The film likely aims to call into question the authenticity of relationships and the 'bystander' effect that can sometimes prevent us from solidifying true human connection. I appreciate some aspects of attempting to round out Joyce's character; in that we learn she was something of an opportunist constantly seeking validation and that her isolation may have been self-inflicted. But the film is fairly mean-spirited in people's recollections of Joyce, especially before the halfway to 2/3 point where the film really doubles down on trying to get you to sympathize. Ultimately, the film is a bit tonally wrecked by this contradiction, and we never really get a full and satisfying feeling of the morals Dreams tries to convey. The interviews with Joyce's friends seem to meander, and also interestingly frames the interviewers in an ignorant yet positive light, despite the inherent premise of the film. However, props for the re-enactments as I felt the acting (Ashton did a wonderful job) and cinematography were bang up and in my opinion weren't overly long or unnecessary. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member Filled with interviews of old friends stating how much they and everyone around them "fancied" and "wanted to snog" Joyce. Leaving so many blanks and filled with far to much reenactment of the deceased woman's flat. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Chilling, haunting, compulsive viewing. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Truly heartbreaking. She was beautiful and talented and oh so alone. . . Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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