>*"Science is nothing but a piece of trash before a profound dream."*

Satoshi Kon sure had imagination! I still prefer *Perfect Blue* but this was just as mind-boggling, both movies that demand rewatches to fully comprehend. No idea what I was watching most of the time visually but I at least understood the themes(?) ***Paprika*** at it's core is about identity, our main character has two of them (or so it seems) and she doesn't know which to embrace. It also blurs the lines between dream and reality and the movie does an excellent job at confusing the audience because I wasn't sure most of the time which it was. When dreams and reality mix too much they become delusions?

The dream world visuals are insane, so much attention to detail with the backgrounds, toys, dolls. Very nice colorful animation, love it. The Dream Machine concept has been remade to death but it feels distinct enough to be original here. Crazy how good every character was woven into the story, none of them are dead weight. Lots of movie references but I might be confused with more recent movies that drew inspiration from this. Some thrilling sequences I didn't expect and very fun with all the creative colorful wtf visuals displayed on-screen.

The mystery at the core and the creepy investigation was captivating but I wish it wasn't as rushed and simplistic (compared to everything else here) it could've been better and I wouldn't mind a 2h runtime. More focus on the main character would help. Perhaps too many villains too? Felt like this movie was trying to do too much with a short runtime and ended up feeling slightly unfocused and undercooked as a result. Still hella enjoyed it and would definitely rewatch.