Dream Team
Written and Directed by Lev Kalman and Whitney Horn
Starring Alex Zhang Hungtai, Esther Garrel, Bro Estes, Veronica Osorio
Unrated
Runtime: 1 hour and 32 minutes
In theaters November 15 at Metrograph NYC

by Christopher La Vigna, Staff Writer

Not too long ago, when premium cable was the peak of entertainment technology, and the rise of the internet was still in progress, softcore porn films were a small, yet thriving subgenre of film that seemed to be perfectly designed to fill the gaping maw of programming schedules for various HBO and Showtime spinoff channels. While sex was still the center of these films, they often tried to have a little more fun with their thin plots and meager budgets. Dream Team, the latest film from filmmaking team Lev Kalman and Whitney Horn, is directly inspired by these steamy films, and uses their conventions as a springboard for a delirious film that is equal parts soft sci-fi, eco-anxiety mystery, and smirking lust.

The film’s loose plot, which is scattered in fragments throughout the roughly 90 minute runtime and often dropped as casually as it is picked back up, concerns two INTERPOL agents, Agent St. Aubergine (Esther Garrel) and Agent Chase (Alex Zhang Hungtai) as they investigate the mysterious murder of one Dr. Theresa Gorgeous, a scientist holed up in a makeshift apartment-laboratory whom we witness die from exposure to a mysterious pink gas in the film’s cold open. From there, The film is broken down into a collection of episodes with colorful titles such as “Dooplegängbang,” “The Biggest Organ,” “Coral Me Bad,” and my personal favorite, “Asses to Ashes.”  Each of these episodes is bookended by a dreamy montage of marine life footage, blindfolded couples kissing, and silhouette shots of our agents watching the sunset; it’s as if we’ve hit the play all menu on the DVD of a forgotten TV-MA X-Files clone. We’re also treated to the fuzzy displays of countless CRT computer monitors, a visual motif used to remind us of those heady delays in the nineties and early aughts when the internet’s promise of limitless connection and information was still inspiring and alluring.

The shaky 16mm camera work and lush colors fit perfectly with the film’s overall pace, where our agents will be actively investigating a scene, until we suddenly move to a montage of them relaxing on the same beach where the body was found.  It’s almost unnerving, but mostly hilarious, how the film goes out of its way to eschew any sense of urgency. A globetrotting murderous conspiracy is unfolding, but it’s never anything worth giving up on a nice day of drinking and sunbathing. We casually hop around various locations in Canada and Mexico, with only sparse bits of voice over to ground us in any given sequence. 

The agents explore various locales–beaches, house parties, university campuses and laboratories–wherein they meet various characters who will alternatively flirt and info dump with them. One example of this is the introduction of Dr. Veronica Beef (Mihn T Mia), who struts down a hallway with our agents’ silhouettes in the foreground. She addresses the agents by opening up her lab coat to reveal a white fishnet top and a black bra underneath, whilst asking “what can I tell you about…coral?” To which our agents gamely reply “everything.”

Later on, When Chase, Beef, and St. Aubergine wind up in a jacuzzi discussing the case, their conversation lays the film’s motives bare: “We’re not trying to catch anyone. We should be clear: we’re not cops,” Chase asserts. “You’re not trying to solve a mystery?’ Dr. Beef asks, to which Agent Chase responds, “We’re more trying to…like, learn the mystery.” “Like to be with the mystery,” St Aubergine enthusiastically adds. This visibly arouses Dr. Beef, who moves in closer to the couple, making it clear she is completely at their disposal. While there’s little to no on screen intercourse, the film is absolutely brimming with sexual tension, and is certain to put many viewers in the mood.

Near the film’s end, a Mexican news broadcast informs us of a spate of deaths as a result from killer pink pastel mist. But by this point in the film, the pursuit of the mystery has all but ceased to be an active pursuit. It’s just a strange, slightly scary thing happening in the background. The film itself is so nonchalant about this pandemic, which may or may not be caused by a murderous coral hivemind, that the final chapter introduces completely new characters–Amanda WineClub, private eye, and Midnight Shadow, another INTERPOL agent, both attending a wine tasting for a co-ed co-op basketball time. The story nds with them all sunbathing by the pool, enjoying good wine and conversation, promising in its next season “Nocturnal E-missions…”

There’s been a rise in demand for vibes-based films, and Dream Team absolutely fits the bill. There seems to be a deliberate sense of incompleteness here. This is episode one, yet it feels like we are watching a mid-season episode of an old pulp sci fi show, or reading a random issue from a long running comic series. This is to say that Kalman and Horn totally nail the 90s Skinemax tone they’re going for. They also manage to incorporate some genuine philosophy and poetry into the mix. Viewers willing to lean back, and let the film wash over them will be rewarded with ninety minutes of colorful and cerebral foreplay. Here’s hoping we get a Dream Team season 2… until then, we’ll have to just keep wandering the beaches and yearning.