lucid (2026): Cast, Story and Release Details

Prepared by Movies Dock Editorial

Lucid is an 8-minute German horror, drama, mystery and thriller short about a protagonist trapped in recurring nightmares. As lucid dreaming becomes a possible way out, the film frames the struggle through surreal imagery, trauma and uncertainty between dream and reality.

Lucid is a German short film built around a simple but unsettling premise: a nightmare-plagued protagonist tries to use lucid dreaming to escape a repeating cycle. At just eight minutes, it presents its central conflict in a compact form.

Combining horror, drama, mystery, thriller and TV movie elements, the film places the boundary between sleep and waking life at the center of its story. Its tagline, “Dream or Reality?”, reflects that underlying uncertainty without revealing how the situation develops.

lucid movie details

Story without spoilers

The protagonist of Lucid is repeatedly troubled by nightmares and attempts to take control of them through lucid dreaming. That effort becomes a possible route out of a surreal cycle, while the distinction between what is dreamed and what is real remains central to the film’s premise.

The supplied details also point to elements involving trauma and family, alongside a cast of characters identified as a friend, a corpse, a dream protagonist and monsters. These roles suggest a fragmented, unsettling narrative structure, but the available synopsis does not provide further story details.

What to expect

Lucid can be approached as a brief, concentrated genre piece rather than a feature-length horror story. Its premise supports expectations of dream-related uncertainty, nightmare imagery and a mystery built around the protagonist’s attempt to break a recurring pattern.

The listed genres indicate a blend of psychological unease, dramatic stakes and thriller tension. Horror is paired with mystery and lucid-dreaming concepts, while the keywords “trauma” and “family” suggest that the surreal material is connected to more personal concerns. The film’s eight-minute runtime leaves limited space for exposition, so its concept is likely to carry much of the experience.

Cast and creative team

Niklas Plum directs Lucid and co-writes it with Ian Reimer. The cast includes Amelie Heuer as the protagonist, Cora Gräf as a friend, Ian Reimer as a friend, Louis Süllwold as a corpse, Alina Büker as the dream protagonist, and Sebastian Paczkowski and Arne Störmann as monsters.

• Amelie Heuer as Protagonistin
• Cora Gräf as Freundin
• Louis Süllwold as Leiche
• Ian Reimer as Freund
• Alina Büker as Traum-Protagonistin
• Sebastian Paczkowski as Monster
• Arne Störmann as Monster

Release and production context

Lucid is listed as a 2026 German production with German dialogue. Its release date is September 18, 2026, and its runtime is eight minutes. The film is categorized as Horror, Drama, Mystery, Thriller and TV Movie. No production company is listed in the supplied information.

Reported production figures:
Budget $300

Movies Dock view

With its short runtime and dream-focused premise, Lucid centers on the tension between nightmare and reality. The film’s available details establish a compact German genre story about trying to escape a surreal cycle, while leaving its deeper developments for the viewing experience.

Film data:
TMDB