There is history embedded in the land on which we walk – and the same can be said for the people themselves. Each one of us can be considered an ambulatory archaelogical sites, where our own pasts are buried deep in our souls, and where only certain people are able to excavate those secrets and unearth certain information. It’s a fascinating concept from a philosophical and psychological level, and one that works exceptionally well when it is explored extensively. It is also the foundation on which Valeska Grisebach builds The Dreamed Adventure (German: Das Geträumte Abenteuer), her fourth directorial outing and her return to cinema after nearly a decade, having previously left us with the intriguing Western, which is in many ways a strong companion piece to this film. The story is set in a small Bulgarian town that is only a stone’s throw away from the borders of Greece and Turkey, and focuses on Veska, an archaeologist who has settled into a quiet life exploring the region, carefully extracting as much information as she can through ongoing archaeological efforts in the area. This is all complicated by the sudden return of Said, a shadowy figure from her past who re-emerges, seeking out help in an illegal diesel smuggling operation. Initially rejecting the offer, Veska is forced to become involved when Said disappears without a trace, plunging her into an increasingly dangerous set of circumstances where her previously placid existence is now entirely at risk, but where her resourcefulness proves to be incredibly valuable, indicating that this is not her first time grappling with a sinister past. A film that is very ambitious, but perhaps slightly lacking in all areas that we would imagine it would be successful in, The Dreamed Adventure is a mixed bag: a well-crafted film with big ideas and a lot of audacity, but which doesn’t always execute them in the way that we would hope and expect, making it a slight misfire and a minor disappointment overall.

The primary theme that the director is exploring throughout The Dreamed Adventure is that of the thorny, unhinged nature of the past – it follows a woman who has seemingly settled into a more peaceful life, intent on spending the rest of her life in pursuit of knowledge rather than the thrills and excitement that defined her earlier life. We don’t know much about Veska at the start (in fact, she only enters the film after nearly twenty minutes, with the story misleading us into thinking it is actually going to be about Said, whose disappearance actually acts as the catalyst for the story), but through observing her efforts to rescue her friend, we unearth certain secrets that indicate that she is not merely the soft-spoken academic she presents herself as, but rather has a much more storied past, one steeped in the kind of dangerous lifestyle that many would consider to be somewhat unusual, if not frankly daunting. It is from this that Grisebach builds a fascinating account of an individual odyssey where the goal is slightly undefined (the circumstances surrounding Said’s disappearance remain ambigious for the entirety of the film) and where the focus is on someone who is simply trying to accomplish her goal without getting herself thrown in prison or killed, both of which become an increasingly likely outcome, as we see in Veska’s efforts to make it through what proves to be a very difficult and potentially perilous situation. Grisebach throws in some commentary around geopolitics, criminal syndicates and international tensions (especially since the film takes place in the Balkans, which adds further layers of conceptual complexity to the proceedings) that gradually evolve into a complex portrait of a woman seeking answers and hoping not to get killed in the process, which is not the typical day-to-day routine of most historians.

Based on the premise and the themes that are embedded in the story, we would imagine that The Dreamed Adventure would be a thrilling and exhilarating leap into the inner depths of the human condition, as seen through the eyes of a truly challenging protagonist. Unfortunately, this is a case where concept does not match execution in any feasible way, and instead falls apart at the seams. To be perfectly clear, the film is not bad, but rather exceptionally dull, which is a peculiar outcome for something that had no shortage of potential. It is constantly meandering around a point that it ultimately never reaches, and at nearly 170 minutes, it frankly doesn’t have nearly enough compelling plot to fill in that time, leading to long stretches that some may think are supposed to reflect the complex message in a meditative, subtle way, but ultimately just become uninteresting. There is a problem when the audience, during a film, begins to offer their own opinion on what should’ve been excised, and there are several moments that even the most inexperienced of viewers can agree that the shortening of certain themes (or their exclusion overall) would’ve been a far better approach. There is no reason for a film like The Dreamed Adventure to border on three hours – there’s absolutely nothing contained in this story that justifies such an exorbitant running time, especially since the premise is not nearly complex enough for that to feel appropriate – we’d at least understand if it was a labyrinthine story that required an abundance of detail, but a singular odyssey in which the story moves from one point to another directly is never really the kind of situation where the audience should be forced to patiently wait for it to say something of value. It all amounts to a film that seems to have potential at a glance, but squanders so much of it as a result of simply not knowing how to pace this story appropriately, which feels like a real betrayal of its more interesting ideas that ultimately fall by the wayside.

However, while it may be quite heavy-handed in terms of how it chooses to explore the subject matter, there are certain aspects of The Dreamed Adventure that do deserve to be mentioned for being unexpectedly strong, in spite of some of the weaknesses that surround them. Most of the praise should be directed towards Yana Radeva, who plays the part of Veska and anchors the entire film, almost single-handedly saving the film from being a disaster, which is made doubly impressive by the realisation that this film is her acting debut. Her previous experiences include being a geologist (meaning that she did bring some degree of authenticity to the profession held by her character) as well as a range of other jobs – and yet it was through an extensive audition process that the director found her, immediately knowing that Radeva possess the complexity and nuance required for the role. It’s a beautiful performance that simmers with incredible intensity, having layers that feel so much more authentic as a result of how much of the story is filtered through her perspective. We almost wish that the film that surrounded her was more nuanced in terms of the kind of portrait that it is presenting, since, as a character study, The Dreamed Adventure has a lot more merit to it than a crime thriller or action film, these elements not being nearly as successful. Radeva is a compelling screen presence, and we wish that the film in which she was working gave her more to do, since there are many parts where we don’t entirely find the story to be using her raw talents to the best of their ability. The entire cast consists of non-professional actors, and in addition to Radeva, we find another very strong performance delivered by Syuleyman Letifov, who presents a layered portrait of a man who is caught between worlds, desperate to escape without falling victim to the same system he helps maintain. The performances in The Dreamed Adventure are so much better than the rest of the film, and remain the only reason the film proves to be at least partially entertaining, which is a surprising element that only highlights how much additional work was required to bring this story to life on screen.

The Dreamed Adventure is a challenging film to speak about, because it is objectively not a bad work, but also struggles to be anything particularly interesting or daring, despite its very clear ambition that we can appreciate while also acknowledging that it doesn’t really say anything particularly notable or compelling, despite its sincere promise. To understand the film’s potential, as well as the areas in which it fails, we have to return to the central metaphor of archaeology, which is a profession built around uncovering hidden truths. The symbolism present in this story indicates that it is aware of the more abstract meaning behind excavating the past, much better than it understands how to make these discoveries feel narratively interesting. Grisebach certainly deserves credit for pursuing a more unconventional crime drama that veers towards being far more thoughtful than many other similarly-themed films – but even taking this into account, it never amounts to being more than just a suspense-driven thriller, despite constantly trying to prove itself to have more depth. The ambition behind The Dreamed Adventure is never in question (and it deserves credit for the audacity), but its inability to sustain momentum or meaning across its excessive running time ultimately undermines it, distracting from the strong elements (such as Radeva’s impressive performance, one of the great debuts of the year) and ultimately never amounting to all that much after a while. Like the archaeological endeavour that encompasses the film, The Dreamed Adventure promises to be filled with extraordinary revelations, but yields only fragments of that potential, leaving viewers admiring the process of telling this story more than embracing the final portions, which feel so much more shallow and lifeless, based on how difficult it can be to find value in a relatively bland, uneventful film that gives off the illusion of being profound, but in reality is nothing more than an overlong disappointment.