Daniel Isn’t Real 2019

 

 

I was given a recommendation for this film by a coworker who explained it as an "imaginary friend goes bad" sort of film.  Which it is, but not in an evil Drop Dead Fred sort of way which is what I originally thought of.  This is definitely a psychological horror with a slow burn but it's a short fuse as it doesn't take long for things to go haywire.    

 

 

 Sure it starts off innocent enough, well not really, it starts off with a shocking mass shooting. Then the story switches to a young boy meeting his first best friend, his imaginary best friend, Daniel for the first time.  Immediately Daniel feels a little "off" to me and it doesn't get any better.  Miles Robbins and Patrick Schwarzenegger as Luke and Daniel both put in surprisingly good jobs here as neither had done anything I really took notice of before.  It also features veteran actress Mary Stuart Masterson who plays Luke's mother who I pitied but at the same time she also creeped me out.    

 Even though the title tells us Daniel isn't real, could he be?  Is he just an imaginary friend or is he a demon or some other sort of supernatural entity?  Is Luke just crazy?  Is this all just an uncontrolled primal id?  Watch and see.  I give this impressive thriller four broomsticks out of five.