A teenage girl is afraid her parents are going to divorce because it’s all her fault because that’s why parents divorce (you should always let your children know that, of course) but finds hope when she and her annoying little brother discover a book about the Sandman–and his power to make dreams come true. Netflix’s In Your Dream is an imaginative, funny, and entertaining animated adventure that brings this premise to life.
My child, 7, “loved it.”
But let’s not talk about my child, let’s talk about my divorce. In Your Dreams, like all family films involving divorce, makes it out to be a horrible thing–a “not happily ever after” ending. I mean, In Your Dreams is about a girl who effectively sacrifices her consciousness to an autocratic sand dude to avoid the horrible fate of her parents separating. But as a divorced dad of a young child, let me tell you: it sort of rocks, after a while. You get 3 – 4 nights a week where you can walk around in your underwear and drink beer or watch scary movies with the sound cranked up high or clean up your house and not have it immediately destroyed, and then you also get 3 – 4 cherished nights with an amazing little kid.
Just make sure to tell them it’s your fault, and you’ll be all set and guilt free.
Back to the movie. Writer/directors Erik Benson and Alexander Woo have crafted a fun, easy-to-watch, 90-minute film that is packed with visual gags and clever moments to appeal to small kids (a stuffie with laser farts?) and a heartfelt, richly articulated story to keep parents engaged. Combined with colorful and detailed animation and fleshed out characters, In Your Dreams is a movie that packs a dynamite-fisted punch.
It may not push the boundaries of creativity, but that doesn’t make In Your Dreams any less good. Where Pixar has toiled for years with heavy-handed themes at the expense of entertainment value, Netflix’s In Your Dreams relies on tried and true elements: memorable characters, funny adventures, and rewarding visual effects.
Heck, I’d watch another movie with siblings Stevie (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) and Elliot (Elias Janssen) diving into their weird dream worlds. Benson and Woo give these dream sequences so much care and richness, with quirky little things (a creepy moldy muffin hiding in the darkness, wearing Stevie’s lost retainer as a crown?) that keep every moment dynamic and engrossing, it’s hard not to smile.
If only the story ended in divorce, you’d have the perfect movie.
Review by Erik Samdahl. Erik is a marketing and technology executive by day, avid movie lover by night. He is a member of the Seattle Film Critics Society.