The Dreamseller
The Dreamseller
eminent professor at the federal university. Julio goes to work at the San Pablo building as
usual, but after he arrives at his office floor, he straightly goes outside the window and stands
on the ledge. As he readies to jump off the 20-story building, the movie takes us to a flashback.
A man walks down the stairs of his home and prepares to leave for work. When he arrives at the
office building, he is greeted by all his subordinates. He then reaches his office room and glares
at the news channel before silently brooding over the cityscape.
In the present, a security guard suggests a psychologist convince Julio not to jump. Meanwhile,
a crowd of people watches Julio's act as he tries to take his own life. A mysterious man joins the
crowd and heads toward the building before snatching a hot dog from one of the bystanders. He
then climbs out the window and joins Julio, who is astonished to see a disheveled stranger by
his side. As he is gathering the courage to jump, the man lectures him on suicide and claims
that a suicidal person is a killer. The man explains that a suicidal person kills himself and
everyone he loves, including his family. Upon hearing this, Julio breaks down and asks him to
stop. By now, it is clear that Julio has a family problem, which is why he is about to end his life.
While the mystery man suggests dismissing his wisdom, Julio is seen carrying a picture of his
son.
Julio's mood shifts when the man jokes about his coat. The mystery man points out that Julio is
stuck in his emotional cage and is ignorant of misery after he fails to answer one of his
philosophical questions. The man complains that Julio cannot bear the weight of his losses, and
Julio lashes out, saying he doesn't know what he has lost. The man then admits he admires
Julio's courage to throw himself from such a height and crush his body in exchange for a quiet
night of loneliness in the graveyard. He moves closer to Julio and asks him if he can feel his
heartbeat. Julio shares that he really wants to die and has no doubts about his actions. But
when the man tells him that suicidal people only want to kill their pain, Julio backs down and
leans on the wall of the window.
When asked who he is, the man reveals he is a dream seller, and he sells what money can't
buy: courage for the insecure, confidence for the phobic, and common sense for the unwary.
The dream seller finally manages to talk Julio out of committing suicide.
The movie again takes us back to the last flashback, when the man, now revealed to be the
dream seller himself, is brooding over the cityscape from his office window. His assistant calls
out to him and asks him if everything is fine.
Back to the present, the dream seller helps Julio get out of the ledge as the crowd below
disperses. He then offers Julio to stay at his house that night so that he can rest and leave the
following day. Later in the evening, the two reach the dream seller's house, which turns out to
be a slump area for homeless people.
In the following scene, a flashback reveals that the dream seller used to be a renowned
businessman with a fortune valued at 50 billion dollars. His name was Mellon Lincoln, the third
richest man on the Forbes list in 2013. In a meeting with Roger, his business partner, and other
stakeholders, Melon is seen discussing the down pricing of their shares that has caused a big
loss in the business. He seems so engaged in his work that he doesn't even pick up his
daughter's call.
In the present, Julio wakes up to the noise of a train as Mellon greets him in the morning.
Mellon, Julio, and Bartolomeu, one of Mellon's followers, head for breakfast, but Julio notices a
newspaper headline in a small shop on their way. He is devasted to learn that his suicidal
incident has gone viral all over the newspapers, and now he can no longer continue to be a
renowned psychologist.
In the next scene, it turns out that Mellon was taking Julio and Bartolomeu to a funeral so that
they could enjoy free food for breakfast- since he doesn't have any money. A lady and her son
weep incessantly, sitting beside her husband's dead body. While Bartolomeu shoves some food
inside his coat and onto his mouth, Mellon joins the mourners and shares some of his wisdom.
He urges them to cherish the memories they spent with the man lying in the coffin and respect
his honor while he rests in peace. He claims that although a funeral is for tears, it should be
more about praise and reminiscence – attributing to the person gone. Mellon then encourages
the mourners to tell good traits about the dead person that influenced their lives. The mourners
individually comment on the person's good deeds. When the son shares that his father was his
best friend, Mellon suggests he honor his father through wisdom and courage. Julio is amazed
to see Mellon's ability to guide and influence people even in their darkest times.
While walking through the streets, they encounter a boy trying to escape after stealing an old
lady's purse. Mellon immediately chases after the boy and catches him in an abandoned
building. Soon after, the old lady, security personnel, and other witnesses arrive at the scene.
Mellon holds the boy tightly and refuses to turn him to the police. He then convinces the lady to
forgive the boy's childish act by reciting a line ‘The act of forgiveness benefits those who forgive
than the forgiven’. The lady becomes emotional and agrees not to turn in the boy and instead
provides him with some cash after her purse is returned.
Later, the little boy, Dimas, joins Julio and Bartolomeu for a meal. As they wander through the
streets after the meal, a black van chases them, but with the help of Mellon, they manage to
escape. Mellon then takes the team to a nursing home and asks the other three to improvise a
song for the audience. While Julio, Dimas, and Bartolomeu try their best to make up a song,
Mellon goes out on the balcony to meet his old friend, Jurema.
Later that night, the group sits on the rooftop of a building. Mellon asks Julio why he doesn't
return to his family, but Julio reverts the same question to Mellon. A moment of silence falls
upon them as the two wonder about their family. Julio then talks about his son, Joao, and
shares how he wanted his son to be the best at everything. Due to this pressure, his son
eventually grew apart, and now they do not even know each other well. Hearing, Mellon
convinces Julio to confront his son as they have a lot of time ahead of them.
In the next scene, Roger and his subordinates watch a news channel displaying how Mellon, a
homeless man, has gained followers after preaching wisdom about the world and contradicting
the consumerist view and the corporate world. They are, however, unaware that the same
homeless man is Melon Lincoln, who was once their boss. The men discuss how Melon's
speeches have been circulating all over the news, raising awareness of the capitalist products.
They fear that their business image may be harmed due to Mellon's take on ethical issues.
Roger, however, says that he has already taken care of the threat, revealing to the audience
that the black van sent to kill Mellon was his plan.
Later that evening, Mellon's followers increase, as more people want to listen to his wisdom. In
a cemetery, Mellon gives his speech against the flawed capitalistic system. He claims that the
system crushes its leaders and questions its promise for happiness to those who have reached
the pinnacle of capitalism. The attendees carefully listen and agree with his statements. He then
claims that the secret to happiness is to achieve what money can't buy.
Next, a flashback shows Mellon in his office room as Roger walks in to complain about his sole
decision to stop a contract bidding. Mellon, however, confronts him about his involvement in
fund embezzlement and threatens Roger to leave the partnership for such a corrupted deed.
Meanwhile, his daughter, Beatriz, messages Mellon when he is coming to see her performing at
a school program, but he dismisses her. Next, the movie takes us to a school function, where
Beatriz breaks down on the stage when she doesn't see her father in the audience.
Later that night, she confronts her father for not making it this time. Mellon promises that he will
be with her and her mother the next time, but tears roll down Beatriz's cheeks as she realizes
her father never spends time with her.
Back in the present, Mellon gazes upon a cemetery marked as 'Mellon Lincoln.' This moment is
when we know that the people in Mellon's life think he is dead or has faked his death. As
Mellon, Julio, Bartolomeu, and Dimas return from the cemetery, they are once again chased by
the same black van. Julio quickly warns his friends before the van men start shooting them.
They manage to duck away, but Dimas isn't so lucky. Wasting no time, Julio, Mellon, and
Bartolomeu hurriedly take the little boy for help. Fearing for his friend's life, Mellon suggests
Julio go back to his home.
In the next scene, Julio returns to his home, although his wife barely allows him to enter through
the door. She wishes he had jumped off the building but he only asks to see their son, Joao.
When Julio goes to his room, Joao is nowhere to be seen. His wife reveals that Joao has been
gone for days. As a result, Julio disappointingly returns to Mellon's place in the slump area.
The following morning, a woman from the press wakes Julio, who is sleeping on Mellon's bed.
The woman shares that she has a proposition for the Dream Seller. However, Julio tries to
dismiss her since Mellon has stopped giving lectures or organizing sessions for people following
the shooting incident. The woman, however, manages to convince Julio that it will just be a
short live broadcast and a tribute to the Dream seller.
Later, Julio visits Mellon to persuade him for the live broadcast, but Mellon expectedly refuses
the offer. Julio then convinces him that he can change people's lives and help people fight
depression and anxiety. With tears in his eyes, he admits that Mellon is the one who saved his
life and that he can save others too.
The movie then takes us to a live broadcasting program, where Mellon readies himself for his
performance. At the same time, we see Roger, who greets Mellon as his old friend, and Julio is
astonished to find that they know each other. Next, the program presenter addresses Mellon as
the Dream Seller, who gained millions of followers, not because of money or a marketing team,
but with his wisdom and views about the world, and welcomes him onboard.
Unfortunately, it turns out the tribute program is a trap set up by Roger to expose and destroy
the Dream Seller, aka Mellon Lincoln. An old footage of Mellon plays in the background that
shows how he was held captive because of his mental illness. The program presenter then
jumps on the stage and accuses Mellon of being a master manipulator. Shocked by his past
revelation, Mellon is forced to speak. He accepts his fault for not enjoying the small moments
while he can and admits that his past is his tormentor. After this, the movie again goes into a
flashback.
Mellon, with his wife and daughter, are about to board their private plane for a trip, but a
business phone call interrupts their plan. Although his wife tearfully suggests not picking up the
phone, fearing he will leave again, Mellon doesn't listen to her. After the phone call, he learns
that he has to attend a business meeting, leaving his wife and daughter alone for the trip. As he
bids them farewell and gets in the car, the private plane burns mid-air, causing the death of his
wife and daughter.
Back in the present, Mellon notes that he regrets not spending enough time with his family, and
wasting all the time he had on materialistic goals. He shares that on the day of his family's
death, a man who valued trivial things and despised essential things died. He tearfully admits
that it was the day Mellon Lincoln died. Although he cannot go back in time, he can start over
with his life. The audience emerges with loud applause after listening to Mellon's heartfelt
history.
The following scene shows Julio watching a TV as it reports Mellon's story before it jumps to live
footage of a boy trying to jump off a building. Julio then rushes to the scene after realizing that
it's his son, Joao. It turns out that Joao is attempting to commit suicide from the same ledge that
his father had once thought of ending his life. Julio hurriedly climbs out the window and vainly
asks his son to extend his hand. Joao wants to disappear as he is not the son that his father
wanted. He notes that his parents would be relieved if he left them for good. Julio asks for one
more chance to understand his son, but Joao denies any chance as he widens his hands to
jump. Julio quickly tells his son that he will jump first since he wouldn't know how to live without
his son. Hearing this, Joao catches his father, and the two finally hug, promising that they will
help each other through life.
The movie's final scene shows a relieved Mellon as he tearfully smiles and watches Julio and
his son from the ground.