It’s very unusual to find a sci-fi story that is set somewhere like Mexico for example, as this film is. Usually they take place within big, well known cities like New York or Los Angeles, or indeed space, and rarely are there many other elements other than the sci-fi stuff itself. Well Sleep Dealer is certainly an exception to this established “rule”, and is worth seeing for its originality and ingenuity alone.

Set in the near future, Sleep Dealer centres on a technology which allows Mexican labourers to work in the USA virtually instead of having to cross the border illegally. A similar technology that’s part of the same network also allows people to do things like see the person they are phoning and even save and sell their memories.

Much like Terry Gilliam’s Brazil or Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (although not quite on the same level, of course), Sleep Dealer mixes sci-fi with real life. Although we have this fantastic, mind-blowing technology, it is surrounded by old buildings, dirty streets, and the same criminal activity we have now. This isn’t a future that’s anything close to heaven as we’d all like it to end up being but just a slightly technologically improved version of what we have now. And that’s one of the major elements that lifts this out of potential mediocrity.

As with so many smaller, independent films, this is ambitious stuff. There’s a certain creative flair on display here that can be appreciated from afar as concepts or from within when experiencing it. Although some of them don’t exactly ring true enough to go along with for the entire runtime, for the most part the ambitious ideas pay off. Sometimes drawing comparisons and using things from real life can make us believe and relate to a film more than when it's completely fantasy; there may be a ludicrous technology at the centre of the film but there are also things such as video calling that don't seem too hard to imagine.

I would say the film is equal parts sci-fi and human drama. There is certainly the flashiness of this technology and special effects layered on top but a lot of it is about a man’s guilt for an action he wishes he could take back and another man’s wish for revenge. It takes this elaborate sci-fi storyline and showcases how this can affect everyday people’s lives, and shows how differently we would react if a similar thing had happened in the world we live in today.