Sleep Dealer (2008)
Average Rating: 5.8/10
Reviews Counted: 32
Fresh: 21 | Rotten: 11
Sleep Dealer's depth and energy are almost enough to overcome a shaky screenplay and pedestrian acting.
Average Rating: 6.3/10
Critic Reviews: 14
Fresh: 11 | Rotten: 3
Sleep Dealer's depth and energy are almost enough to overcome a shaky screenplay and pedestrian acting.
liked it
Average Rating: 2.9/5
User Ratings: 116,118
Movie Info
In a bleak future where the borders have been sealed, vast computer networks commodify memories, and corporate warriors have been militarized, a tech-savvy "campesino" from a small Santa Ana farm village discovers a mysterious transmission that seems to be a blueprint for the city of the future. Memo Cruz lives with his family in Santa Ana del Rio, a remote farming community that has recently been hijacked by a private company. Having already taken control of the entire area's water supply, the
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Luis Fernando Pena
Memo Cruz -
Leonor Varela
Luz Martinez -
Jacob Vargas
Rudy Ramirez -
Tenoch Huerta Mejía
David Cruz -
Meztli Adamina
Dolores Cruz -
Jose Concepión Macía...
Miguel Cruz -
Giovanna Zacarías
Bertha -
Emilio Guerrero
Ricki -
Norma Pablo
Lupe -
Roberto Reyes
Antonio -
Guillermo Ríos
Rudy's Supervisor -
Andaluz Russell
Angie RamÃrez, Angi... -
Jorge Zepeda
Rodolfo RamÃrez, Ro...
ADVERTISEMENT
Sleep Dealer Trailer & Photos
Friend Ratings
No Friends? Inconceivable! Log in to see what your friends have to say.
All Critics (32) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (21) | Rotten (11)
Sleep Dealer is flawed, but still vibrant and inventive. Whether he finds larger budgets or keeps doing movie like this, Rivera is definitely a filmmaker to follow.
Top CriticAlex Rivera's overstuffed but intriguing feature debut, Sleep Dealer, takes a speculative leap into Tijuana's near future, imagining the next evolution of cheap labor.
Clearly, Rivera knows one of the great gifts of the sci-fi genre. An uncanny world invites new ways of seeing. It offers new chances to ask the hard -- and too often, hardened -- questions.
The combination of rusty amateurism, future technology, and clear-and-present politics creates a trippy time-space kick: This dusty little movie feels like yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Adventurous, ambitious and ingeniously futuristic, Sleep Dealer is a welcome surprise.
Sleep Dealer is an unusually thoughtful science fiction film, using the speculative energy of the genre to explore some troubling and complex contemporary issues.
what you'll be left with after seeing Sleep Dealer is not a collection of cool scenes so much as a collection of compelling questions about where our world is headed
Made on the cheap compared to Hollywood flicks, this thrillingly original and heartfelt Mexican film is a truly human story about the impact of technology on individuals and on society.
This Sundance hit takes the "jacking in" premise we've seen in everything from Neuromancer to eXistenZ and looks at it from the point of view of third world migrant workers.
Sleep Dealer is reminiscent of a Philip K. Dick dystopia that might actually read better than it looks here, with average acting, slightly incoherent plotting and cheap special effects.
I'm glad to have science fiction back in the forefront in 2009 but that doesn't mean they're all going to work. Consider Sleep Dealer a near-miss.
Writer-director Alex Rivera crafts a smart, lean and engaging science fiction opus that proves you only need a little money if you have a lot of ideas.
Occasionally shaky effects are the biggest drawback in a mostly smart sci-fi cautionary tale.
A jumbled vision ... too many predictable lines like, 'Sometimes you control the machine, and sometimes the machine controls you.'
This inventive indie sci-fi movie has plenty of big ideas to make up for its small budget.
Modest sci-fi entry out of Mexico %u2013 about the ultimate offshore labor force - shows impressive vision but lacks the story to keep it going.
Sleep Dealer should have something striking to say about what the future looks like according to the third-world workers that are building it at their own expense but it has nothing memorable nor particularly coherent to offer.
Culminates in an unconvincing finale whose hopefulness seems not only fanciful but, when viewed on the story's own terms, woefully short-sighted.
Audience Reviews for Sleep Dealer
Super Reviewer
[font=Century Gothic][/font]
[font=Century Gothic]Set in a remarkably familiar-looking near future, "Sleep Dealer" is an intelligent allegory about the modern world, focusing on themes of globalization and the war on error. This is what science fiction should be about, more ideas than just the empty spectacles we will be subjected in weeks to come. It just goes to prove that what happens in plain sight can be scarier than any grand conspiracy we can ever dream up. Regrettably, the ending is a little too predictable and audience pleasing, though. [/font]
Super Reviewer
Discussion Forum
Discuss Sleep Dealer on our Movie forum!
What's Hot On RT
Johnny Depp's Best Movies
Picture gallery of movie bears
10 most anticipated blockbusters
Read reviews for Season 7 premiere
Discuss last night's episode
Latest News on Sleep Dealer
December 7, 2010:
This Director Wants to Put You to SleepGood news, insomniacs: the film world has given you a new weapon in your war on sleeplessness, in...
April 16, 2009:
Critics Consensus: 17 Again Is Sweet And PoignantThis week at the movies, we've got a high school do-over (17 Again, starring Zac Efron and Leslie...
January 28, 2008:
Frozen River, The Wackness Lead 2008 Sundance WinnersThe dust has settled in Park City, and now that the votes have been counted and the hardware's been...
Fresh Links
Featured
Should Black Widow Get a Movie?
HitFix explores the pros and cons of the idea.
16 Shocking TV Moments
RollingStone recounts some of the most famous heart-stopping scenes.
Scarlett Johansson Talks Nude Scenes
The Under the Skin star discusses her revealing role.
Jai Courtney Talks Terminator Genesis
The Divergent stars drops some fresh details.
Bill Murray in Wes Anderson Films
Check out a retrospective of the pair's collaborative efforts.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
Featured on RT
- Johnny Depp's Best Movies 129
- Video: Jon Hamm Spoils the End of Mad Men (But Not Really) 0
- Preview Bates Motel: The Final 3 Episodes of Season 2 0
- First Full Trailer of Rosemary's Baby Miniseries 6
- Video: Nicolas Cage Faces Off With Poisonous Snakes 5
- Movies For Tax Day 21
- Now Streaming: The Legend of Hercules and Labor Day 0
