Daniel Isn’t Real is easily one of the more striking and distinct horror films to come out in 2019, and it’s not one you want to miss. Despite its detours into some out-there weirdness, the basic setup is fairly straightforward. A young college student, Luke (Miles Robbins), struggles to cope with his mother, Claire’s (Mary Stuart Masterson) deteriorating mental state, so as a way to cope, he ends up embracing a repressed element from his childhood by unleashing his old imaginary friend, Daniel (Patrick Schwarzenegger). However, in doing so, their antics begin escalating, and Daniel begins to take advantage of Luke’s vulnerability in order to try taking over his physical form.
The film explores the ways someone deals with trauma, how coping can be a life long struggle that doesn’t provide any easy solutions. Granted, the way mental illness is discussed throughout the film does feel more sensationalist than anything else, which is frustrating at first, but becomes easier to swallow as the film goes on revealing more about the nature of Daniel as a presence, but that is just one of many facets that the film touches on. It also deals with toxic masculinity as Daniel offers a sort of hyper-masculine ideal that Luke strives towards, leading him to do things that he otherwise would not have even thought about doing.
Where the film really makes an impression is with the stylized filmmaking. It’s directed by Adam Egypt Mortimer, who adapted the book the film is based on, In This Way I Was Saved, along with the book’s original author, Brian DeLeeuw. It has a grimy aesthetic that is also vibrant, manic, and sleazy. Once it reaches the final act, it leaps into the downright fantastical, enveloping the characters with dark, psychedelic imagery that does a wonderful job in capturing the state of Luke’s mind with some impressive production design, and some genuinely wild moments of full on body horror.
Robbins is great at showcasing his character’s vulnerability. You can see in each moment how his past trauma has been eating at him from the inside, and it’s compelling to watch him indulge in the regressive shenanigans that he gets into with Daniel. Speaking of, Schwarzenegger carries himself with the swagger – and fashion sensibilities – of a coked out yuppie, sometimes energetic and sinister, and other times, seemingly cool and calm. The two actors work very well together, complimenting each other, and never getting in the way of what the film is going for. Sasha Lane does solid work as an artist that Luke grows fond of, though her time on screen is a bit limited.
While I’m not entirely convinced that Daniel Isn’t Real isn’t as thematically cohesive as the filmmakers intended, it’s still a remarkably unsettling and at times, thoughtful psychological horror film that is bound to leave you wanting to discuss it with your friends. It’s a freaky, and at times, full blown hallucinatory nightmare that is anchored by a strong, empathetic lead performance from Miles Robbin. It throws you into a bleak vision full of impactful imagery and ideas, and even if some things don’t connect as strongly when it comes to the way the film deals in mental illness, it still offers a lot that I certainly won’t be forgetting anytime soon.