In the stylized satire "Sweet Dreams," directed by Ena Sendijarević, themes of colonialism, belonging, patriarchy, and relationships with nature are explored through a complex family drama.

Jan and Agathe, a Dutch married couple with cold relations, reside in the Dutch East Indies, a former colony in what is now Indonesia. Agathe is unaware that the beginning of the end of her family is imminent after a friend warns her that "it will soon be over" for them. Jan suddenly dies, and Agathe invites her son Cornelis and his wife Josefien to continue managing the sugar factory. However, the will reveals that the house and company are left to Jan's illegitimate son, Karel. Although the money now legally belongs to him and his mother, the servant Siti, she will have to fight to protect it. However, in the end, the fates of many will be in her hands, as emphasized in the film's poster.

Sendijarević uses symmetrically arranged scenes, an unusual 4:3 format, and a specific color palette dominated by vivid red and green, as well as white. Through stylization, she may further emphasize that the questions posed are seen through a subjective framework. The acting of the Dutch characters is exaggerated, and their behavior is coarse. "Jan tamed this land" is part of the funeral speech, mocked by Indonesian workers who are humorous and less formal. The colonizers appear alienated, just as they are distanced from Indonesians and the awareness of exploitation that is part of their colonial history. Josefien is constantly attacked by mosquitoes and struggles with the heat, and she herself is repelled by the natural environment. She and Cornelis tell the factory manager that domination is banal and that they come in peace, although their only goal is to profit by buying the remnants of their father's wealth. Agathe has never even been to the sugar factory on which her existence depends and which she uses daily until she suffocates in it when she ends her life.

The relationship between Siti and Jan in the film also portrays the patriarchal tradition of colonizers using indigenous women as mistresses to establish illegitimate families. However, Siti emphasizes that she decides what to do with her body and masters her sexuality within the corrupt system in which she finds herself. Karel, the product of that system, is not fully part of either world. He is confused about his belongingness, to which Siti responds that "you don't have to have been somewhere to be from there," one of the most striking quotes.

Siti is a complex character because she "dreams two sweet dreams" - to provide her son with a better future and to free herself from struggles and worries. She succeeds in the end after setting the house on fire and finding herself in the safe embrace of Reza's hands under the full moon, as well as when they previously made love. He is a rebellious factory worker trying to persuade her to run away with him, but when she refuses, he calls her selfish. She believes that if everyone took care of themselves, everyone in the world would be taken care of, but Reza replies that such a world would be boring. When he dreams of a life together in the wilderness, Siti asks, "Like animals?" and he replies, "Like humans." Siti admits to the Indonesian women that she is better than them and that her son will be better than theirs.

While Karel lives as the sole witness to this intricate family story, the others will continue to dream their "sweet dreams" in a sweaty fever and decay in sugar-coated soil. Through this arthouse gem, the director opens up topics that are relevant today, such as migration, identity, and participation in exploitation without questioning the system itself.