Elizabeth Banks is stepping into a glittering, unsettling future world for her new film — and the first trailer is already turning heads. The trailer, shared exclusively with PEOPLE, shows the actress, 52, living an unhappy home life with John C. Reilly and their son before she learns of a technology that works with memories and neural pathways to reset how a person approaches life. Here's everything you need to know about DreamQuil before it hits theaters.
Key Facts:
- DreamQuil is in theaters September 25, per PEOPLE.
- The film stars Elizabeth Banks, John C. Reilly, Sofia Boutella, Juliette Lewis and Kathryn Newton.
- It was directed by artist Alex Prager, marking her feature-length directing debut.
- DreamQuil premiered at SXSW on March 16, 2026.
What DreamQuil Is About
DreamQuil is a psychological sci-fi thriller with body horror elements, set in a near future where poor air quality has pushed people into mostly virtual lives. Banks plays a frustrated housewife living inside that futuristic dystopia who jumps at the promise of an avant-garde digital wellness retreat to escape her troubles. Her character, Carol, is a dissatisfied career mother struggling to find real connection with her husband, Gary (Reilly), and their child.
The film leans hard into its unnerving premise. Once Carol commits to the DreamQuil process, a nurse played by Juliette Lewis injects her with a glittery purple substance that triggers a kind of total ego death, sending Carol back to relive a day from her past — this time with a very different outcome. That eerie tone carries through the rest of the story, which incorporates doubles, cyborgs and holographic recreations of the film's female characters.
The Trailer's Trippiest Moment
The new footage doesn't waste time getting strange. In it, Banks quips, "This is gonna fix my wrinkles, too?" as she enters a futuristic machine overseen by an attentive Sofia Boutella — Boutella's character tells Carol the technology "works with your memories and neural pathways to reset how you approach life." It's the kind of glossy, almost-too-good sales pitch that sets the whole nightmare in motion.
Things take an even weirder turn once Carol returns home. The trailer shows John C. Reilly's character reacting to an apparent robot double who has been filling in for Banks at home, saying enthusiastically, "I feel like we hit the lottery with her. I mean, our own Stepford Wife?" It's a line that captures exactly the kind of domestic unease the movie is built on — a husband a little too comfortable with the replacement.
One exclusive image from the film only deepens that disorientation. Banks and her robotic double appear staring into a mirror that refracts them into six copies of themselves.
Meet the Cast
Banks isn't carrying this one alone. Lewis plays Nurse Chapman, Kathryn Newton plays DreamQuil's young CEO Margo Case, Boutella plays Carol's friend Rebecca, and Lamorne Morris rounds out the ensemble. Rebecca, in fact, is the one who first talks Carol into trying the treatment — describing it to her as "digital ayahuasca," a way to reset her brain chemistry and her attitude.
Critics who caught the film at SXSW have drawn comparisons to some classic paranoid thrillers. One review called it a mix of The Stepford Wives, Rear Window and Rosemary's Baby, noting the high-concept sci-fi setup eventually spirals into a harried psychological thriller.
Behind the Camera
DreamQuil marks a major leap for its director. Alex Prager, known primarily as a visual artist and photographer, makes her feature directing debut with the film, and she co-wrote the script with her sister, Vanessa Prager. Banks also produced the project alongside Max Handelman, Alison Small, Vincent Landay, Prager herself and Michael Mendelsohn.
When and Where to Watch
Patriot Pictures will release DreamQuil in theaters on September 25. The film had already made the festival rounds earlier this year — it debuted at the SXSW Film & TV Festival on March 16, 2026, in Austin, Texas.
With its unsettling mix of domestic drama and body-horror sci-fi, DreamQuil looks like one of the stranger studio releases of the fall — and with Banks, Reilly, Boutella and Lewis all in the mix, it's got the star power to match its ambition. Stay tuned for more on DreamQuil as it hits theaters this week.
Sources: PEOPLE via Yahoo Entertainment · Deadline · The Hollywood Reporter · Variety
