Synopsis

Claire Cooper, a Massachusetts housewife who illustrates children's books, begins having vivid dreams about a drowned town, an apple orchard, and a missing girl. When her own daughter is found dead, Claire realizes the visions are connected to a serial killer. As the boundary between prophecy, memory, and madness collapses, she follows the killer's psychic trail before he claims another victim.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film was adapted from Bari Wood's novel Doll's Eyes. The screenplay was substantially rewritten, and the project was retitled In Dreams.

• The underwater sequences were filmed in Baja California using the large water tank previously used for the underwater scenes in Titanic.

• Filming took place from August through December 1997, with locations in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Baja California.

• In Dreams was one of the early productions associated with DreamWorks Pictures. The studio had not yet released a film when production began, although The Peacemaker opened before filming was completed.

• The film had an estimated $30 million budget but earned approximately $17 million worldwide, making it a commercial disappointment.

• Elliot Goldenthal's soundtrack combines an original orchestral score with songs by Roy Orbison, the Andrews Sisters, and Elizabeth Fraser. The title song is Orbison's "In Dreams."

• Its visual style relies heavily on saturated autumn colors and surreal transitions between waking life and dream imagery.

• A LaserDisc edition released in the United States on August 17, 1999, was among the final films issued in that format domestically.