DUBAI: French-Algerian actress Sofia Boutella took to social media recently to share the trailer for her latest project, “DreamQuil,” which hit select theaters in the US this week. Director Alex Prager’s debut feature film had its world premiere at the South by Southwest Festival in Texas in March before screening at a clutch of cinemas. The film’s star cast includes Elizabeth Banks, John C. Reilly, Juliette Lewis, Kathryn Newton, Lamorne Morris, Toby Larsen and Anna Marie Dobbins. “Set in the near future, a woman returning from a virtual retreat discovers her worst nightmare when the helper robot sent to assist her family in her absence starts to infringe on her life and identity,” the film’s logline reads. In the film, Boutella plays the protagonist’s best friend Rebecca, who suggests that Banks’ character undergoes a wellness process known as DreamQuil. The trailer features snippets of Boutella, and scenes of Banks as she undergoes treatment before returning home to find a “Stepford Wives”-esque android in her home. Boutella most recently starred in “Only What We Carry,” the latest feature from Welsh writer and director Jamie Adams, best known for “She Is Love” and “Wild Honey Pie!” The drama also features Boutella’s “Star Trek” co-star Simon Pegg, the British actor known for the “Mission: Impossible” franchise. Also appearing are French actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg, and filmmaker Quentin Tarantino. The actress also featured in “The Killer’s Game,” which hit cinemas in 2025, and Netflix’s “Rebel Moon — Part 2: The Scargiver.” Boutella is known for her breakout performance in the Oscar-nominated film “Star Trek Beyond,” in which she portrayed the fierce alien warrior, Jaylah. A professional dancer, Boutella starred in a music video for rock band the Foo Fighters in 2020. Born in Bab El-Oued, a bustling neighborhood of Algiers, Boutella started studying ballet aged 5. The family fled the Algerian Civil War in 1992 when she was 10 and moved to Paris. There, she gravitated toward rhythmic gymnastics, joining the French national team at 18. She later blended her classical ballet training with the physicality of gymnastics and even spent time breakdancing with a group called the Vagabond Crew.