>>510137595Lucid Visions (2005)
Josh Hartnett stars as Ethan Cole, a disillusioned ad executive burned out by the 996 work culture. Desperate to climb the corporate ladder, he becomes an early tester for the Halo, unaware that the device is being weaponized. As Ethan’s dreams grow increasingly vivid and controllable, he begins to blur the line between imagination and reality—only to discover his nightly visions are no longer his own. Prophetic, led by a charismatic but unhinged CEO (a cameo by Keanu Reeves), is using the Halo to implant subliminal commands, turning users into compliant workers who "voluntarily" optimize their lives for the company’s profit.
Alicia Silverstone plays Dr. Lila Voss, a neuroscientist and former idealist who co-founded Prophetic but now secretly leads its shadowy "REM Division." Haunted by her role in the project, Lila grows suspicious of Ethan’s rapid rise in the company and the strange "glitches" in his dreams. When Ethan uncovers evidence that the Halo can trap users in recursive dream loops—effectively turning them into unpaid, sleep-deprived laborers—Lila becomes his reluctant ally. Together, they race to expose Prophetic’s experiments, aided by a hacker collective and a rogue Neuralink engineer (a nod to real-world tech).
As the line between waking life and the dream world collapses, Ethan and Lila confront a chilling reality: the Halo’s "non-invasive" neurostimulation is a Trojan horse for corporate mind control. In a climactic showdown at Prophetic’s neon-lit headquarters, Ethan must outwit the CEO in a lethal game of cat-and-mouse, using his lucid-dreaming skills to turn the device against its creators. But at what cost? The film ends on an ambiguous note—Ethan, now a folk hero, gazes at the stars, wondering if he’s truly free… or just another cog in a system that’s learned to dream with him.
