Really cool idea! I like the way you’re able to think outside the box like that. I wonder if that change would give any problems later on, though. If you reduce the importance of Luke and increase the importance of Finn then maybe the ending where she leaves Finn behind and goes after Luke wouldn’t work as well.
Also, how do you feel about including the deleted scene with the doctor saying to Rey “your friend will be fine”? I was initially against it, it seemed like it would be unnecessary sugar coating of the situation. But it would make Rey seem more comfortable with leaving Finn without worrying too much. And it would downplay the importance of Finn’s injury to the audience, he wakes up in the beginning of TLJ anyway.
That scene always felt weird to me. In theory it would make sense, especially with the emphasis on their relationship, but in practice the doctor’s delivery is almost creepy and I don’t know if there’s a natural place for that scene.
It definitely makes sense for the movie to end without the trip to Luke’s island, given this idea. But then again, one of the reasons for the Reydream scene was to emphasize her connection to Luke, so maybe connecting her with Luke in one scene and disconnecting her in another scene makes it a wash? The island is still in play right now. I don’t have any definitive ideas on how to make it absolutely necessary/cut it completely without losing good stuff that I already like in the movie.