# Surreal — Genre

> Films embracing dream-logic, impossible imagery, unconscious mind. Beyond rational narrative.

## Defining elements

- Dream-logic
- Impossible imagery treated as real
- Symbolism over realism
- Unconscious mind on screen
- Audience interpretation invited

## Distinguished from related genres

- **Surreal** = dream-logic, impossible accepted
- **Magical realism** = magic in mundane world (treated as normal)
- **Fantasy** = magical world with rules
- **Experimental** = formal experimentation (may or may not be surreal)

Surreal can overlap all three.

## Sub-types

| Sub-type | Example |
|----------|---------|
| David Lynch surreal | Mulholland Drive, Eraserhead |
| Buñuel surreal | The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie |
| Dream film | Inception, Paprika |
| Absurdist | The Lobster, Dogtooth |
| Symbolic | Holy Motors, Synecdoche New York |
| Body horror surreal | The Fly, Tetsuo |
| Liminal | Last Year at Marienbad |

## Structural conventions

### Dream-logic
- Cause-effect doesn't apply
- Time is fluid
- Identity shifts
- Locations transform

### Recurring imagery
- Symbols repeat
- Patterns emerge
- Audience hunts meaning

### Multiple interpretations
- No single "correct" reading
- Audience completes meaning
- Mystery preserved

### Anchor in reality (often)
- Film begins in recognizable world
- Slips into surreal
- Returns or doesn't

## Voice / Style

### Visual
- Striking imagery
- Production design distinctive
- Color palette specific
- Lighting often theatrical

### Sound
- Music distorted often
- Silence weaponized
- Familiar sounds wrong context
- Auditory dream-logic

### Dialogue
- Often stilted / theatrical
- Or hyper-naturalistic but in wrong context
- Words that don't match images
- Repetition

## Surreal mechanics

### The uncanny
- Familiar made strange
- Almost-right but not
- Discomfort triggered
- Audience destabilized

### Symbolic associations
- Objects mean something
- Recurring = meaningful
- Audience patterns
- Layered meaning

### Identity slippage
- Characters become others
- Or contain multitudes
- Or change without notice

### Time + space slippage
- Locations transform
- Time loops or skips
- Causality breaks

## Sample surreal scene

```
INT. APARTMENT - NIGHT (?)

ELDAR (35) sits at his kitchen table. The lamp above is too bright.
His shadow on the wall is too dark.

The phone rings.

He answers.

VOICE (over phone)
Eldar. The window in your bedroom is open.

ELDAR
... what?

VOICE
You should close it before he comes in.

He hangs up. Walks to the bedroom.

The window is closed.

He turns to leave. The phone in the kitchen is ringing again.

He returns. Picks up.

VOICE
The window in your bedroom is open.

He looks back. The bedroom door — was it open? — is now closed.

ELDAR
Who is this?

VOICE
You know who this is.

ELDAR
I don't.

VOICE
You will.

He hangs up.

He stands in the kitchen. Listens.

Faintly — wind. Coming from the bedroom.

He walks to the bedroom door. Opens it.

The bedroom is gone. In its place: a forest at night, wind moving
through leaves, his bed sitting in the middle of it, made.

ELDAR (V.O.)
That was when I started to suspect that the place I was living
was not the place I thought.

He steps into the forest. Closes the door behind him.

ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR (kitchen): the phone rings again.
There is no one to answer it.
```

This works through:
- Dream logic (forest in bedroom)
- Voice without identity
- Familiar made strange
- Audience destabilized
- Visual impossibility accepted
- Mystery preserved

## Common mistakes

- Random weirdness without coherence
- Surface surrealism (just looks weird)
- Explanation that kills mystery
- Forced symbolism
- Confusion vs. mystery
- Ignoring craft basics
- Pretentious without substance

## Best surreal films reference

### David Lynch (master)
- Eraserhead (1977)
- Mulholland Drive (2001)
- Lost Highway (1997)
- Inland Empire (2006)

### Luis Buñuel
- The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
- Belle de Jour (1967)
- The Phantom of Liberty (1974)

### Modern surreal
- Holy Motors (Carax, 2012)
- The Lobster (Lanthimos, 2015)
- Mother! (Aronofsky, 2017)
- Synecdoche, New York (Kaufman, 2008)
- Enemy (Villeneuve, 2013)
- Annihilation (Garland, 2018)

### Anime / international
- Paprika (Kon, 2006)
- Perfect Blue (Kon, 1997)
- Stalker (Tarkovsky, 1979)

## When to write surreal

- Personal vision
- Festival aspirations
- Audience appetite
- Specific symbolic ideas
- Dream-source material
- Director-driven project

## Production realities

Surreal can be:
- Low budget (Eraserhead was tiny)
- Mid (most modern surreal)
- High (Mother!, Annihilation)

Production design + cinematography matter more than VFX.

## Risks

- Audience confusion
- Critical division
- Limited audience
- Festival positioning needed
- Marketing challenge

## Combination

Surreal layers onto:
- Drama (Mulholland Drive)
- Horror (Eraserhead)
- Sci-fi (Annihilation, Stalker)
- Comedy (The Lobster)
- Romance (Eternal Sunshine)
- War (Apocalypse Now has surreal beats)
