Two strangers who have met in one another's dreams come face to face in the real world with disturbing results in this psychological thriller from Mexico. Chelo (Barbara Mori) is a successful and well-respected architect who found little satisfaction in her love life. While the men she dates cannot satisfy her, each night she dreams of a handsome man who can fulfill all her desires. Meanwhile, Dr. Marquez (Leonard Sbaraglia) is a leading heart surgeon who is engaged to marry a beautiful woman, Marcela (Marina de Tavira), but as he sleeps he's visited by terrible visions of a woman who wants to kill him. Chelo believes she can't go on without finally meeting the literal man of her dream, who she is certain is real, so she devises a plan -- she makes herself look as if she's been attacked, and goes to the police and tells them she's been beaten and raped. Chelo gives a careful description of her assailant that closely resembled the man in he dreams, and they soon present her with a suspect who matches the description -- Dr. Marquez. At the same time, when the doctor gets a look at Chelo, he's terrified as he realizes she's a dead ringer for the malevolent woman from his nightmares. Violanchelo, a.k.a. Amor, Dolor y Viceversa (aka Love, Pain and Vice-Versa) was the first feature from director Alonso Pineda-Ulloa.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide