In Your Dreams Review: An animated film filled with whimsy and harsh realities tucks you in for an imaginative adventure
Plot: When Stevie and her little brother Elliot find a magic book about dreams, they uncover an ancient magic that could be the solution to keeping their parents together, who are on the verge of separation.
Review: Does Netflix have an obsession with divorce? After dropping last year’s divorce-adjacent Spellbound, the streaming giant is tackling the sensitive subject again with a film that’s arguably less musical and more engaging than the aforementioned animated film. In Alexander Woo’s In Your Dreams, Stevie (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) and Elliot (Elias Janssen) are a sister-brother duo hoping to reignite the spark between their Mom (Cristin Milioti) and Dad (Simu Liu) in the face of an impending separation.
Stevie and Elliot’s adventure truly begins after they discover a magic book inside the basement of an old book shop. Within the book’s pages is a spell that summons The Sandman (Omis Djalili), a magical being with the power to turn dreams into reality, with a catch, of course. Throughout the film, Stevie and Elliot learn to lucid dream with the help of Baloney Tony (Craig Robinson), Elliot’s favorite, swaggy stuffed giraffe, who acts as their guide in the dreamscape. Once all seems well, the duo discovers their efforts might be in vain as nothing in the dream world is as it seems.
After the monumental success of KPop Demon Hunters, one would think Netflix doesn’t need another heavy hitter in its Oscar bank. However, KPop took the entire world by surprise, so In Your Dreams serves as a second animated film from the studio worth the Academy’s attention. With a Pixar-like charm and presentation, In Your Dreams tells a heartwarming tale about overcoming the barrier of sibling rivalry to achieve a common goal. While the film does an admirable job of depicting dreams, it’s the war and eventual union between Stevie and Elliot that makes the movie for me.
I am a child of divorce, and the younger of two children. My sister, who’s nearly four years older than I am, was not around for much of my parents’ separation and eventual divorce. Though she felt the loss, it was I who had a front-row seat to the deterioration, the arguments, the desperation, and the unfortunate conclusion. Toward the end, I welcomed the divorce, as I could no longer see a happy ending to the ordeal. Unlike Stevie and Elliot, I lost hope. Part of what makes In Your Dreams special is the sibling duo’s unwavering dedication to bringing their parents back together, even if it’s misguided. Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as dream magic in the real world, making In Your Dreams a flight of fancy that lets someone like me live out the fantasy of their parents magically getting back together. I appreciate and applaud this, as fate left me with no choice but to ride my familial downward spiral to its end.
Dry your eyes, folks. We’re moving on.
In Your Dreams is a well-crafted fantasy film that skillfully balances flights of fancy with grim truth. While the threat of Stevie and Elliot’s parents’ separation looms in the background, the rollicking adventure through various dreamlands allows us to have fun with the premise while exploring familiar yet unpredictable worlds. Many classic dream scenarios come to life in the film, such as visiting theme park-like lands composed of your favorite things (breakfast foods, amusement parks, etc). On the flip side, we also encounter nightmare material, such as your teeth falling out of your skull (no, thank you, Mr. Woo), or realizing you’re naked with your crush standing in proximity. While I appreciate Woo and the team “playing the hits,” I would have loved to see a few more original and obscure dream/nightmare scenarios play out, though I’m sure time and editing were a factor.
Performance-wise, everyone gives In Your Dreams their all, especially Jolie Hoang-Rappaport (Stevie) and Elias Janssen (Elliot), who bring an astonishing amount of whimsy and shattered innocence to their respective roles. I enjoyed watching the sibling duo gradually mature throughout the film, as the reality of both the dangers of dreams and their inability to stop the inevitable dawn. Craig Robinson brings much charm and hilarity to Baloney Tony, with the line “It’s not you it’s me,” inspiring a genuine spittake. For me, Elliot and Baloney Tony are the film’s stand-out characters, with Elliot’s perpetual state of bedhead being a chef’s kiss of character design.
Simu Liu and Cristin Milioti also add warmth to the mix as Stevie and Elliot’s struggling parents. Liu and Milioti play their respective characters genuinely. I could hear the struggle in their voices as they attempted to keep the veil in place for the sake of their concerned children. As a parent, knowing when to bring your children into the fold is almost impossible. You risk so much by bringing them behind the curtain of “adult problems.” I appreciate that Liu and Milioti’s performances are fanciful and upbeat, but also laced with concern, and in some cases, dread. There’s never a right time to disappoint your kids, and regardless of how much you explain yourself, every word of reassurance can sound like an excuse.
Before we wrap, and because I’ve no idea where else to put this, I tip my hat to the film’s writers, Woo, Erik Benson, and Stanley Moore, for including one of my personal nightmares, a hellish time surviving a themed restaurant with an animatronic band. I grew up on Long Island, where Charles Entertainment Cheese was king, though his band, Munch’s Make Believe Band, gave me nightmares on more than one occasion. When I’d go to Chuck E. Cheese, there they’d be, twitchin’, singing enthusiastically to some godless cover of whatever was popular at the time, ruining classics with a crooked smile and off-key catterwalling. It brought me great joy to see that nightmare recreated in In Your Dreams.
I hope adults connect with In Your Dreams, and that kids find solace in its messaging toward subjects of separation and divorce. Thankfully, there’s much more to the film than salving your emotional wounds. The movie presents viewers with a grand adventure through a world of limitless possibilities, featuring plenty of laughs, familiar callbacks to childhood fears, and unbridled imagination that make it one of the best animated films of this year.
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