Elizabeth Banks & John C. Reilly in Peculiar Sci-Fi ‘DreamQuil’ Trailer​

“It’s changed me.” “DreamQuil does the work to rebalance you from the inside.” Republic Pictures revealed the first official trailer for this strange sci-fi thriller titled DreamQuil, the story of an AI wellness program gone haywire. This psychological thriller / tech horror is created by Alex Prager as her feature directorial debut – it first premiered at the 2026 SXSW Film Festival earlier in the year. A woman embarks on a virtual wellness retreat in order to get her life back on track – with nightmarish consequences. Elizabeth Banks stars as Carol, a dissatisfied mother and housewife who heads to a virtual wellness retreat hoping to get her life back on track, only to return home and discover that a robotic version of herself has taken her place. Also starring John C. Reilly as her husband Gary, who actually seems to like the robotic Carol a bit more, of course. The impressive cast features Banks & Reilly, plus Juliette Lewis, Sofia Boutella, Kathryn Newton, Lamorne Morris, Toby Larsen, and Anna Marie Dobbins. This looks way more like a play than an actual film. Not the most original idea, not the most interesting-looking film, despite the cast in it.

Here’s the first official trailer for Alex Prager’s sci-fi thriller film DreamQuil, direct from YouTube:

Set in the not so distant future when poor air quality leads to people living mostly virtually lives. Carol is a dissatisfied career mother, struggling to find connection within her marriage to Gary and her child. With the day to day familiarity of their home and lives feeling increasingly claustrophobic, and worried she could be heading towards divorce, Carol leaps at the chance to get her life back on track by signing up for “DreamQuil”, an avant-garde digital wellness retreat. When Carol returns home, she discovers her family has been living with “Carol 2”, a robot the corporation sent designed to help in her absence, and things take a mysterious and sinister turn. DreamQuil is directed by American photographer / filmmaker Alex Prager, making her feature directorial debut after many other shorts & music videos previously. The screenplay is written by Alex & Vanessa Prager. It’s produced by Elizabeth Banks, Max Handelman, Vincent Landay, Michael Mendelsohn, Alex Prager, & Alison Small. This initially premiered at the 2026 SXSW Film Festival earlier this year. Expected to release later in 2026 – no final date is set yet. Anyone want to watch?

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