The last bastion of safety should be when your head hits that pillow, you heart beat slows, and you drift off into a deep sleep. Away from your worries, stress, and problems. REM begins and depending on your day, week, or month, you drift into a dreamscape of your own design. But what if those dreams came at a cost, a tax if you will.

'Strawberry Mansion' spins a nifty yarn about a future when dreams are taxed and audited by the government for their own gain.

Kentucker Audley (who stars and co-directs with Albert Birney) plays James, who is tasked with auditing a mountain of VHS-recorded dreams of Arabella in a secluded farmhouse. During the course of his government-mandated search James begins to drift further into Arabella's dreams and become entangled in them.

Brimming with originality in the vein of a Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze, 'Mansion' is a wonderful ride filmed and filtered through a dream-like prism. Some of the shots are just beautiful to look at, but behind that sheen lies a dark look at how we're influenced on a daily basis by what we watch and ingest and how spend out money and time.

We'll likely never get to the point where the government will know exactly what's in your brain or what your wildest dreams are, but we know how marketing and advertising works, and perhaps thats even more sinister.

Regardless, 'Mansion' is a quaint journey with heart and some joyful ideas of the power of individuality and how dreams shape your life and how they can affect those around us.

Check out the trailer for 'Strawberry Mansion' HERE

Fantasia Fest 2021 runs this year from August 5th to the 25th.