Sleep Dealer (2008)

The near future. Like tomorrow. In a world marked by closed borders, corporate warriors, and a global computer network, three strangers risk their lives to connect, break through the barriers of technology, and unseal their fates.

Director:

Alex Rivera

Writers:

Alex Rivera (screenplay), David Riker (screenplay)

Stars:

Luis Fernando Peña, Leonor Varela, Jacob Vargas

6 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Luis Fernando Peña	...	Memo Cruz
Metztli Adamina	...	Dolores Cruz
José Concepción Macías	...	Miguel Cruz
Tenoch Huerta	...	David Cruz
Gregg Lucas	...	Drones TV Host
Martín Palomares	...	Gus Panchano
Jacob Vargas	...	Rudy Ramirez
Sean Garnhart	...	Rudy's Commander (voice)
Guillermo Ríos	...	Rudy's Supervisor
Leonor Varela	...	Luz Martínez
Montserrat Revah	...	Luz's Computer (voice)
Miguel A. Saldaña	...	Coyotek #1 (as Miguel Angel Saldaña)
Sergio Limon	...	Coyotek #2
José Luis Méndez	...	Coyotek #3
Carlos Valencia	...	Twiggy

Storyline

Set in a near-future, militarized world marked by closed borders, virtual labor and a global digital network that joins minds and experiences, three strangers risk their lives to connect with each other and break the barriers of technology.

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Plot Keywords:

network | future | computer | wilhelm scream | mexican immigrant | 

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Taglines:

Connect to your destiny.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some violence and sexuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

Wilhelm Scream - When man falls off of horse in the first sequence where Memo is watching TV (after "Are Your Nodes Dirty?")

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Goofs

When Memo, at work operating the robot, helps the worker next to him who collapses, he is not wearing the contact lenses that he needs to operate the robot. (He did not have time to take them out.)

User Reviews

Underrated -- Culturally significant

Science fiction as a genre exposes two things about a culture: our hopes for the future, and our fears for the future. What foreign science fiction does for us then is tap directly into the hopes and fears of a culture that is alien to us.

The story of Memo mixes the Mexican condition with a cautious approach to an exciting technology. While "nodes" allow people to directly connect their brains to an Internet of sorts, "sleep dealers" construct cheap, unsafe sweatshops where noders can perform dirt-cheap labor for developed nations, without leaving home.

There are plenty of eye-opening layers of apprehension for the future that are taken straight from the Mexican psyche: the construction of the authoritarian Del Rio Dam in Memo's village echoes the ongoing "water rights" controversies throughout Central America; the closed border with America echoes isolationist fears; the ability of an American corporation to send warships into Mexican villages not only with impugnity but complete openness echoes fears of American corporate-driven hegemony.

Flag-wrapped Americans will deride this movie as Anti-American at worst; cultural ignorance at best. But it is a different sort of cultural ignorance that remains ignorant of the sentiments illustrated in this well-done foreign film.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish English

Release Date:

10 December 2008 (France)

Also Known As:

Sleep Dealer

Filming Locations:

Cadereyta, Querétaro, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$35,050, 19 April 2009

Gross USA:

$80,136

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$107,559

Company Credits

Production Co:

Likely Story, This Is That Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1