Daniel Isn't Real

When Luke (Miles Robbins) was a little boy he made friends with another little boy named Daniel. But as Luke discovers, Daniel is a bad influence for him. Luke also discovers that Daniel is just an imaginary friend and is not real. After a horrific trauma, Luke is forced to get rid of Daniel by locking him up in a doll house. In the present day, Luke (Miles Robbins) is now a college freshman. Unfortunately for Luke, he is having problems dealing with personal traumas. Thinking the release of Daniel (Patrick Schwarzenegger) may allow him to move forward from his current status Luke releases Daniel from the doll house, discovering Daniel is now a similar age. Daniel agrees to help Luke with his life and personal issues. But little does Luke know that Daniel has plans that are far worse than he could ever imagine. If you've ever seen the film Drop Dead Fred (1991), the best way to describe this film is to use the same concept but turn it into a horror movie. It's a concept that I really liked the sound of but its results are a mixed bag for me. The look and tone of this film is great. It's as dark and gritty as you would expect a horror film to be. The film's setting and locations were also positive to see. Eerie sounds tracks were also used to give a nice compliment to the overall horror tones. Daniel Isn't Real has a positive first act with a good general plot and introduction. We gain a good amount of information about Luke's upbringing and the problems that are occurring within his own home. The introduction to a young Daniel is also positive and it's enjoyable to see this new friendship develop only to turn dark. The film's ending (no spoilers) was also enjoyable even though final moments did cause me to raise both my eyebrows and left me with unanswered questions. The biggest problem with Daniel Isn't Real is found in its second act. Once Luke and Daniel are reunited at an older age the plot is pretty slowed down with the two leads spending their time going to clubs, drinking and hooking up with girls. Luke seems to think partying with an imaginary friend is the answer to his problems. At no point does the older Luke of the second act even question who Daniel really is or why Daniel found Luke in the first place. Nor does Luke seems concerned with Daniel's interactions in their past... The relationship is accepted far too easily and what they do together at first is... well not whole lot. But it's obvious that Daniel generally isn't happy with Luke. Some tense moments are had as the audience sees things from Daniel's perspective. Another struggle for me were some of the key performances in this film, particularly when it came to the actor Patrick Schwarzenegger who plays Daniel. The relationship between Luke and Daniel can feel fickle and even unconvincing. It just feels like we see two mates going out for fun. I found myself needing to remind myself of the film's initial plot from time to time because performances didn't feel consistent. Overall, Daniel Isn't Real brings a fantastic concept to the horror genre. While the film's concept, filming style and gritty tone are appealing to me, unfortunately the film let its audience down with the key performances and minor details within the core of its plot. The first and Final act are generally enjoyable, but I'm left with questions which have no answers, and in the end I felt this was a truly mixed bag with missed opportunities. 4.7/10 - Walkden Entertainment

The actors do a good job with Patrick Schwarzenegger standing out. The directing is pushing the psychedelic button with the wannabe eary music and reddish and yellowish light effects a bit too much in my opinion but all in gets the point across. Not sure I'd have payed to see it at the movies as it has it's lengths and with a run time of 100 minutes it's pushing its luck. For those that like movies with mind tricks, dual personality issues and so forth, you'll find what you need here.

That's what fighting your inner demons look like.

I'll confess, they did have a compelling idea, a notion that holds significant importance but just like we witness in most cases, those ideas happened to fizzle out when it mattered the most when it was time to implement the very same. In spite of their earnest efforts (which I do appreciate, by the way, make no mistake) the execution does come off unskillful at times if not achingly short-sighted!

Even though I do understand that the creators had to make compromises to be accessible to a much broader audience but then again topics like these generally demand a certain degree of sincerity & seriousness and letting that slide may as well lead to severe consequences. And yes you guessed it right, that is precisely what happened in this case. A fascinating concept bogged down by poor presentation.

Oh no! I really wanted to like this more. It started out quite interesting and I was ready for the excitement to begin. SADLY it was mostly disappointing for me. There were really good moments but then a bunch of confusing, nonsensical silliness. I just quit caring about a third of the way through. Sorry but not for me but I am sure that others might like it better.

I rated this film a 7, fair, which isnt a 10 or a 1 which this film is neither of anyway. It's worth watching, good storyline, casting was good, directing was really good and maybe helped garner the rating for me, special effects were even fairly good, one scene in particular and several others were close. What docked the points was it felt a little rushed at times, some of the acting and scenarios were cheesy and seemed out of character, especially the doctor. The final solve seemed sort of pushed out and not pulled out with some logical investigative deducements. So then the end was a little hard to decipher and didnt really fit with the rest of the movies flow and style and here was also some very bad special effects happening that was distracting from the cohesiveness and melodic translation of the first 3/4 of the film. So its definitely worth a look, prepare to be pleased but not rocked, but also not skunked. It's only a fair movie but I think most thriller/horror/drama fans will agree.