For the last two years, we’ve been quietly helping bring Life Could Be A Dream to life. From the earliest conversations, to now seeing it on the big screen across the country, this really has been a dream come true.
As producers, we’ve journeyed alongside a dream team of people who believe in independent cinema, and the radical power of film to start conversations, and change hearts and minds. It’s been a wild, beautiful journey held together with coffee, gaffa tape and sheer determination, and we’re incredibly proud of what this film has become.
Now, with the film releasing nationally in cinemas, we thought it was time to answer some of the questions we’ve been getting the most.
First things first: what is Life Could Be A Dream?
Life Could Be A Dream is a stunning Australian feature film exploring coercive control, financial abuse, resilience and reinvention through the story of Sarah and her son Otis, and it’s screening at cinemas nationally from 14 May 2026.
The story? At 40, Sarah is forced to confront a painful truth: she’s trapped in a marriage held together by illusions of love. As her son navigates the turbulence of adolescence, the dangers of staying emotionally and psychologically become impossible to ignore. Seeking refuge in an abandoned estate, Sarah begins to reimagine her own story. Life Could Be A Dream explores the complexity of reinvention through the intricate dance between mother and son, reclaiming life on their own terms.
It’s a story of resilience and grace, and ultimately one of hope. The film is directed by award-winning filmmaker, Jasmin Tarasin, and stars Maeve Dermody, Alexander England and breakout actor, Sonny McGee.
Wait… don’t you usually make short films? Why a feature?
You’re 100% right! We make films for social impact, and passionately believe in the power of storytelling for social change, whether that be short form or a feature length documentary or film. Film is one of the most powerful ways to create empathy and connection, and that was really at the heart of this project.
While this was our first feature film, we relished the opportunity to be able to tell this story with the opportunities that long-form, cinematic storytelling can enable: the time and space to really let it breathe, see the patterns and subtlety, immerse the audience in the discomfort and tension, and allow the cinematography and sound design to build the emotional landscape and allow people to really feel the experience in their bodies.
A theatrical release enables this to be watched together, uninterrupted, and to generate conversations afterwards, which is what we’ve been seeing at the preview and charity screenings.
Coercive control is still widely misunderstood. We are also very aware of the widespread and rising statistics around intimate partner violence. This was a story we couldn’t say ‘no’ to. It felt urgent, it felt part of the zeitgeist, and we knew in the hands of Jasmin and Courtney, and a team of talented female filmmakers, it would be beautifully and sensitively told.
You’ve made the invisible visible. Was that intentional?
Film really is a radical tool for social change, and the reason for that is it’s powerful ability to create connection, elicit an emotional response and foster empathy. That was a guiding star for us in taking on this ambitious feature project, we know that film can genuinely change the world. We see it happen in the work we do at GoodChat everyday. People don’t generally remember stats or information on screen, but they do remember how something made them feel.
At GoodChat, we say you need to connect with audiences hearts first, and their heads and action will follow. We adopt this approach to every project we take on, whether it be a feature or a 30sec TVC on superannuation.
Film is also a powerful tool for shifting understanding as it is able to make the invisible visible, to go behind closed doors, and show patterns and subtleties of experience that we may not otherwise notice.
And that’s exactly the case with coercive control – many in the sector describe it as an ‘invisible cage’ – you’ll notice Sarah’s marital home felt like a glass cage – that was a deliberate filmmaking device. Many of the moments that happened in that home might not have felt like coercive control in isolation, but together they accumulate to create something far more dangerous.
Why did this resonate for you personally?
At it’s heart, this film is a love story between a mother and her son. At GoodChat both Directors have sons on the edge of manhood, and we are consistently looking for ways to model healthy relationships and respect for women. This story really personally resonated for us: as parents, we want to show our children how they can choose empathy over harm, how to be more aware of their community, of positive relationships, of gender equity and the collective hope that we will ultimately raise kind and courageous people in the world. So, yes, bring your children to the cinema, it’s a story that we should all be talking about.
As a female-led crew, we are committed to shedding light on stories around gender inequity but also working alongside progressive male allies like The Man Cave to break the cycle and enable respectful relationships for young men and boys. The Man Cave is Australia’s leading preventative mental health charity and their programs are designed to create long-term, positive shifts in attitudes and behaviours by creating psychologically safe spaces and challenging problematic gender stereotypes. They deliver in-school programs for teenage boys in Victoria and NSW, as well as programs for educators and communities around Australia. As such a percentage of all charity preview screening proceeds go to ManCave.
Um.. so what do producers actually do?
This is the question we get the most (even by our families!) and the honest answer is: a bit of everything.
Ultimately producers protect the vision, while making sure the film is actually possible, shepherding the project from concept to screen. We worked with the director, Jasmin, across development, production, and post. We supported the creative and logistical decision-making, helped secure resources, and worked to find partnerships with organisations working in domestic violence prevention and financial safety.
In an independent film, this means wearing multiple hats supporting creative decisions, solving on-the-ground challenges, coordinating teams, and making sure the film actually got to cinemas. On any given day we might be involved in anything from securing strategic partnerships, to finding an intimacy sock or a wedding ring!
Essentially, we help translate between creative and practical worlds. A lot of producing independent film is solving problems nobody warned you about! But that’s also the fun part.
What’s been the biggest challenge?
Independent filmmaking in Australia is not for the faint-hearted! It was a roller coaster of deadlines, fundraising, distribution and tough creative decisions. We fundraised as we went, which probably isn’t recommended, but it worked for this project.
Impact films don’t happen because one person has a great idea. They happen because hundreds of people collectively decide the story matters enough to fight for and invest in. For us the partnerships were some of the hardest parts but also the most rewarding – a long exercise in convincing people to believe in something before it exists. You’re asking philanthropists, organisations and audiences to see the future version of a project, while it’s still held together by PDFs and hope.
What made this film possible was alignment: the right organisations understood not only the story itself, but the impact potential around it. The film ultimately partnered with organisations including Minderoo Pictures, Snow Foundation and CommBank’s Next Chapter. When partnerships genuinely align with the themes of the work, they become part of the impact and help amplify the story, they move far beyond simply being a brand attached to it.
There are moments where the whole thing feels impossible. And then somehow the right person says ‘yes’, a screening sells out, a conversation lands, or someone tells you the story made them feel seen for the first time.
And the best bits?
There were so many ‘pinch us’ moments in this process. Working with an incredible team, Jasmin Tarasin was a powerhouse of determination against all of the indie filmmaking odds; Courtney Collins did an extraordinary job on a restrained, powerful script; Erin Fairs nailed the elegant but grounded costume; Jen Waters did a stunning job in the art department; and Meg White really captured a simmering atmosphere with her cinematography. It truly was a dream team!
On set, creating a fake wedding at Bronte surf club was loads of fun, as was shooting in the incredible mansion and ‘invisible cage’ of Sarah and Jake’s marital home.
Getting an independent Australian feature film into cinemas nationally is an enormous feat. In fact, the average time it takes to make a film in this country is 7 years and many never see the light of day (or the dark interior of a cinema!) so, to see our film on the big screen is incredible. Watching the film spark conversations and powerful reactions with people who emotionally connected with it and were deeply impacted by it was just incredible, and something we’ll never forget.
Our campaign aims to reach 50,000 people through the cinema release, and more than 2 million through broadcast and streaming. That scale matters because conversations around coercive control need scale too.
What happens behind the scenes that people don’t see?
Most of it! People see trailers, posters and premieres. 11pm funding applications, the partnership decks (and rejections!), the feedback on scripts and edits and poster design. The long days on set and scenes that never make the screen. The spreadsheets, endless emails and moments where everyone collectively wonders if the film will actually get finished.
And then somehow, eventually, there’s a finished film on a cinema screen. It’s a bit like childbirth – and just as miraculous! But if you want to delve behind the scenes and hear directly from the filmmakers on set, you can watch the Behind the Scenes series here.
This seems like a heavy topic. Should I see it?
While this is ultimately a story of hope and resilience, it does cover the distressing and sadly all-too-common story of coercive control. If the film echoes your own experience, or someone close to you, we understand that it might be triggering for you, or too much right now. Our aim is really to try and normalise the conversation around coercive control. To help everyday people be better able to recognise problem behaviours, and to know when to step in, how to be a better upstander. To expect better.
The story, although tense and emotionally-charged, is ultimately about Sarah’s safe passage into a new chapter. A future in which she protects herself, and her son, Otis, from harm, rebuilding a sense of her identity and her agency. It’s about creating the sensation of coercive control, so that we can look out for each other better, observe and call-out problem behaviours, warning signs, and ultimately move the needle on this insipid and far reaching problem that is often leads to escalating violence.
If you feel like you might currently be in this situation, we’ve worked together with partners to create some initial steps to freedom. If watching the film has brought up things for you, help is available. Start with finding a safe place to call 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732). There are also resources available to help with financial abuse from our partners at Good Shepherd, or a starter kit from one of our partners Find my Wild, to help with leaving a controlling relationship.
Why does this matter to GoodChat?
Because this is exactly the kind of work we want to keep making. Stories with emotional truth. Cultural relevance. Social impact. Beautiful filmmaking. Real conversations. A genuine attempt to leave the world in a better spot than we found it.
This project reminded us that audiences are hungry for stories that strike them emotionally and ask something deeper of them. And it reinforced something we’ve believed for a long time: Film can move people in ways very little else can.
I’ve got a question you haven’t answered yet.
Excellent! Hit us up. We could wax lyrical all day. Email us or reach out for a coffee, we’d love to talk more.