Inspired by writer-director Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor’s own experience as a queer asylum seeker, Dreamers is anchored by a luminous and deeply affecting performance from Ronkẹ Adékọluẹ́jọ́.

Isio, a Nigerian migrant fleeing homophobia, is detained and placed in an asylum removal centre after living in the UK undocumented for two years. Determined to believe that following the rules will secure her freedom, she clings to faith in a system that repeatedly fails her. Inside she meets Farah, a charismatic and pragmatic roommate who understands the system’s cruelty all too well. As Farah assists Isio in the face of repeated rejected pleas, feelings grow between the two, and with every rejection her belief in “doing things the right way” is put to the test. With the prospect of freedom with Farah slipping further out of reach, she must decide whether survival means obedience or rewriting the rules entirely.

The film’s rich colour palette and lyrical visual language stand in deliberate contrast to its confined setting, foregrounding love, friendship and inner resilience over institutional cruelty. Dreamers is a powerful and intimate portrait of love, endurance and survival within an unfair system.

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