88
The ethereal essay provides a bounty of poetry, in the form of a measured narration by international treasure Tilda Swinton, and an extensively labored assembly of 200 black-and-white film clips.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
70
Village Voice by Alan Scherstuhl
The filmmakers aren't arguing that mass-media tech leads to fascism, but they suggest, with some lightness, that our interconnectedness certainly facilitates it. But Dreams Rewired is no polemic, and it never mocks the past.
50
Slant Magazine by Christopher Gray
The documentary isn't advancing an argument so much as simply restating a European socialistic breed of fact.
50
New York Post by Farran Smith Nehme
Tilda Swinton narrates this oddball, meandering essay film.
60
The Hollywood Reporter by John DeFore
Its feature-length assemblage of found footage, unified by an original soundtrack and eccentric narration by Tilda Swinton, will be too much of a good thing for some art-house patrons. But auds accustomed to the work of Bill Morrison and other archive-combing meditation artists should respond warmly.
80
The Guardian by Jordan Hoffman
First with the telephone, then early cinema, the magic of wireless radio and, finally, television, Dreams Rewired bombards the senses with a thorough and clever montage of found footage from the 1890s to the pre-war era.
60
The New York Times by Stephen Holden
Dreams Rewired is mostly content to entertain. Its explanations of how new inventions work are simplified to the point of superficiality.
75
Dreams Rewired is scattered by necessity and intent, and it throws off enough sparks to set your brain reeling.