James Preble: Last News

Wilson Chapman editorTons of films have dreams in them, but few capture what a dream actually feels like better than “Strawberry Mansion,” the surrealist indie dramedy that premiered at Sundance Film Festival last year and opens in theaters Friday and on digital next week.Directed by Albert Birney and Kentucker Audley, the film tells the story of James Preble (Audley), an auditor who taxes people’s dreams for the U.S. government. On assignment to review the VHS-recorded dreams of aging artist Arabella Isadora (Penny Fuller), he winds up falling for the version of her younger self (Grace Glowicki) he meets in her mind, taking him on a strange journey where he fights witches, crashes on a deserted island and commands a crew of mice sailors.

Guy Lodge Film CriticIt’s a popular conception that there’s nothing more boring than hearing about other people’s dreams, which by rights should make James Preble — the meek, cutely mustachioed hero of “Strawberry Mansion” — the unfortunate owner of the world’s dullest job: He’s a tax auditor who has to scan his clients’ recorded dreams for hidden expenses.

It’s rare for an independent film to be as gentle and childlike as Strawberry Mansion, the second feature collaboration from writing-directing team Kentucker Audley and Albert Birney. The filmmakers, who have made a number of movies separately, established their whimsical partnership with Sylvio, a similarly quirky comedy about a kind, misunderstood gorilla who loves puppets.