Is Daniel isnt real about schizophrenia?

There comes an age where children will decide they can continue their lives without imaginary friends. For Luke (Miles Robbins), this is when his imaginary best friend Daniel (Patrick Schwarzenegger) convinces him to blend all of his mother’s medication into a smoothie to give her ‘superpowers,’ resulting in a near-fatal accident. Mentally locking Daniel away in a childhood doll house – think Danny Torrance’s locked boxes in recent flick, Doctor Sleep – Luke attempts to live out his teenage years without his best friend. That is until his schizophrenic mother’s mental breakdown causes Luke to re-open the box, longing for the guidance of Daniel once more.

Adam Egypt Mortimer’s second feature, Daniel Isn’t Real plays with ideas of memory, mental health, and trauma to subjugate Luke to the terrors of his own mind. With Luke now at college age, his anxiety and hopelessness is through the roof, until Daniel reappears.

When Daniel initially comes back he is nothing but helpful— in fact, he could almost be seen as an idealised version of the downtrodden Luke. Daniel is cool, relaxed and confident, telling Luke exactly what to say and do to get the best out of a situation; mainly when it comes to girls. Cassie (Sasha Lane) is an art student that Luke immediately takes a shine to and in the early days, Daniel is the ultimate wing-man.

Things quickly go awry as Daniel seeks to control Luke’s actions— and succeeds. His stranglehold over Luke twists tighter and more violently with each scene. Miles Robbins is particularly good here, genuinely terrified and paranoid; its nice to see the stoner kid from Blockers flex some emotional range. Daniel possesses the toxic hyper-masculine bravado of Fight Club’s Tyler Durden as he manipulates Luke to have sex with girls and looms over him at every moment. Yet the most sinister thing is that we know he isn’t real from the get-go. Schwarzenegger carries the role with a disgustingly cocky attitude that its impossible not to hate (in a good way). Daniel is a projection of all of Luke’s insecurities and also a physical manifestation of the mental illness that is ravaging his mind.

This mental health aspect, however, is overshadowed when the final acts delve into the world of supernatural and practical effects. Not that these effects are bad by any means, they are actually pretty original. But the set-up of Daniel Isn’t Real introduces Luke’s mother as under psychiatric help and suffering from delusions. Luke’s grapple with the limits and perception of his own reality (and how real it might actually be) could have leaned more into psychological horror with a story of inherited mental illness, rather than creatures and otherworldly notions. After all, what is scarier than the deepest corners of your own mind?

It often feels like Mortimer shoves aside potentially one of the most refreshing aspects of the film to satisfy midnight crowds that want to see a tangible boogeyman rather than explore the depths of the story he already puts in place. If anything, Luke’s mother Claire (Mary Stuart Masterson) is the most interesting character. Claire’s fight against her own non-visible demons is devastating and terrifying.

Daniel Isn’t Real’s destination often feels undecided, but backed by terrific performances from the entire cast and some nightmarish ideas, Mortimer delivers an initially understated psychological horror that morphs into something much more monstrous.

Daniel Isn’t Real is out on Digital now

by Chloe Leeson

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Tagged as: #horror, Adam Egypt Mortimer, chloe leeson, Daniel Isnt Real, Miles Robbins, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Review, Sasha Lane

Rating this movie with the lowest score possible is just ridiculous. People should think a bit about it before rating movies, as a one star movie is just awful, almost unwatchable, and in this case Daniel Isn't Real is certainly watchable. I get it that not everybody will love it but just rate it honestly. If you like movies like Donnie Darko (2001) or Split (2016) you should enjoy this one as well. The other two mentioned are way better, no doubt about that, but Daniel Isn't Real has some good moments. The acting was good, really can't say anything bad about that even if I tried my best, the story is certainly entertaining to follow, the cinematography was way better than I expected it to be. Just do me a favor and rate your movies correctly, stop with those perfect tens for average movies, and certainly stop with insulting one star ratings for movies like this one.

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8/10

kosmasp31 October 2019

The movie will fall or rise in your viewing experience (pleasure?), according to how you feel about the main actors/characters. They are quite despicable to a degree and you don't exactly know what is going on most of the time. The title gives us a clue, but there is so much more to it.

There is enough tension to fill the whole movie and you will care at least for some of the characters on display. Cleverly assembled and edited, this can be a favorite for some people while not reaching others at all. But that is what tastes are for - and movies are made for

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7/10

quaseprovisorio5 April 2020

It's a good flick! it might not have the most clever dialogue, but it builds tension pretty well. it knows its climax, it doesn't give a lot of unnecessary explanations, it's scary when it has to be...i enjoyed it. maybe is a bit slow in the first hour, but it makes sense in order for the final to be more frenetic.

i like horror filmes but more in the slasher genre...this one is more psychological but it works because the rythm is in the right place. some of the reviews are too harsh, maybe because the film doesn't want to rush into anything. i think that's good.

go with no expectations. i liked it. in the category of psychological horror it's not bad classified.

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6/10

Foutainoflife8 December 2019

This film has it's moments. There is not, at least in my opinion, a clear cut direction laid out but it does have a way of drawing you in. However, it felt a bit tedious at times and I was wanting it to move along a bit better. As my title indicates, I didn't love or hate it but it was an interesting watch.

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8/10

LeonLouisRicci26 October 2021

The Young Cast and Crew of this "Imaginary Friend" Nightmare Show Above Average Creativity and Zest.

The Horror and Thriller Genre has a Rich History of Showcasing and Exploiting Personality Disorders.

It's a Story that Lends Itself to Disturbing and Terrifying Imagery and Horrific Situations.

The Film Adopts a "Psychedelic" Tone from the Stunning Artistic Images During the Openings Credits.

From There the Film Progresses with a Nightmarish Tale of a Schizophrenic College Freshman (Miles Robbins) and His Uneasy (to say the least) Relationship with an "Imaginary Friend".

"Daniel Isn't Real" says the Title, but Audiences are Quick to Challenge that Statement as the Film Unfolds.

"Daniel" ({Patrick Schwarzenegger) is the "Friend", Helper, Tormentor, and Nemesis.

He Represents the "Inner" Intelligence that is Gregarious and Creativity that Daniel Possesses but is too Shy and Insecure to Let Breathe and Associate with the World.

It Proves Rewarding for Luke and the Medication and Visits to a Psychiatrist are Now what Constitutes Life for the Withdrawn Youth who has a New Hobby Photography and an Actual Girlfriend to Relate to.

But Things Don't Stay "Normal" for Long. Daniel is a Demon that Thrives on Terror, Violence, and Dominating the Weak Luke.

There are Images that Disturb and Horrify and the Tone is Relentlessly Unsettling with Many Stand-Out Scenes.

The Ending is Up for Debate about the Particulars but Regardless, this is Fresh Look at and Old Type.

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8/10

jessicartim2 March 2020

This movie took me by surprise, I started watching it expecting your average "spooky story" but Daniel is so much more.

It works on multiple levels and you will enjoy it whether you look for "teenage drama", or "scary horror", or even if you in to more of "psychological thriller" side of things.

For me personally it was a really well told story about schizophrenia/multiple personality disorder.

I did not expect such a quality from this movie either. The acting from both main leads is surprisingly good, its shoot well, and the spare use of very effective CGI adds to the atmosphere.

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So different from what I expected

Gordon-1116 December 2019

The story is so different from what I expected. It is engaging, thrilling and scary. It is definitely worth a watch!

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6/10

catfanatic88811 February 2020

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.

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5/10

WalkdenEntertainment4 March 2020

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

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9/10

ops-5253528 November 2019

So beware if you feel fragile,and have , in a solitude world, an imaginary friend that you talks too and thinks with, because this is a cataclysmic birth of the stars, an explotion emmiting from the explosive brain of a child, and in the end a young man, that unravels your better half to infinity.

its a scary and well built story about mental health, gained by birth through mama's genes, and and the revelation of sigmund freuds id,ego and super ego all mixed together in the kenwood, added with some psychosoatic brainbreakers, and the story are completely out of control.

its a film that should have a flashing sign to embrace for impact, because its scary, it mindwrecking and extremely exhausting to watch. so my advice its to watch with your own brain control button set on, and try to simplyfy the intrusions of madness that are served to you. the fact is that there are millions of people that are gaged with this set of problems out there in the world, and the film are really a groundbreaker from a psychological standpoint.

the acting are extremely well done, the use of special effects very truthful, and the score are very intense and immersive. the filmatographic and editing work has been done flawless, and the set and location management has done a crude operation making this a seeworthy experience.

the grumpy old man that usually shadows away from heavy psychosomatics on film, were very impressed and will surely recommend, and for the parents, dont show this to minors, it may harm in an effectful manner.

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7/10

safsurfer7 December 2019

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.

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7/10

jdring200717 October 2021

While slow to start and a bit tough to follow at times, this movie proposes an interesting and dare I say reasonable concept from the beginning - a darker perspective on having an imaginary friend as a child. But it's so much more than that. Boundaries are pushed and expectations are thrown out the window during the 100min runtime, particularly in the second half. Around 40min in, we finally get a glimpse of why this is deemed a horror movie, and the practical/cosmetic effects are superb, especially for a low budget flick. These visual horror elements are not overdone, but used theatrically moving forward, to punctuate key turning points. I can't say I'm a huge fan of how they ended it, but part of me is inherently a fan of ambiguity over overtness in cinema. Both Miles Robbins and Patrick Schwarzenegger we're great, as was Mary Stewart Masterson. Theoretically there's a lot of room for a sequel, or even a prequel; the creators did a great job composing an expandable universe with this one.

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7/10

TheMovieDoctorful11 October 2019

4 years after his underrated Horror masterpiece Some Kind of Hate (which I will absolutely be reviewing at some point), Adam Egypt Mortimer returns to the Horror genre with Daniel Isn't Real. The bad news is that the film is a disappointment. The good news is that it's still good and more than proves Mortimer has serious staying power in the genre. It's certainly one of the better Horror movies released this year.

A big piece of why this film doesn't work as well as its predecessor is its love story. While the central romance in Some Kind of Hate seemed natural and genuinely heartfelt, here it feels more like a rushed after thought than anything. The ending wants to speak to the redemptive power of love, but the film never convinces us of the passion between Luke and Cassie that would inspire that kind of power. I buy the lust between the two, certainly, but not the love.

That brings us to another major problem with the film; the ending. On top of feeling extremely anti-climactic (I was genuinely stunned when the credits rolled), it was more confusing than anything and just leaves me with more questions than I already had.

Patrick Schwarzenegger is an actor that hasn't really made a lot of noise previously, but this is without a doubt the performance of his career. As Daniel, he's hilarious, charming, charismatic and occasionally rather chilling. He completely steals the show, reminding me a lot of a young Bill Skarsgard and proving that he has quite a promising career ahead of him playing wily villains. The rest of the cast does an adequate job, but this is clearly Schwarzenegger's movie first and foremost. I found myself smiling at almost all of his appearances.

The directing is gorgeous as well. With its psychedelic, dreamlike usage of pinks, reds and yellows against an eerie fog, you can almost consider this the plucky younger brother of Mandy. Credit should also be given to the astounding practical effects that give life to the film's stunning and horrific cosmic demons. The demon designs here are truly inventive and darkly gorgeous, reminiscent of something out of a Neil Gaiman comic.

While the relationship between Luke and his girlfriend Cassie doesn't work, the relationship between Luke and his mother surprisingly made up for the lack of heart in the romance. I could absolutely buy them as mother and son and not a second goes by between them where you can't feel the concern for each other's safety between the two. There are shockingly relatable moments between the two and I'm not merely talking about the wholesome ones. Miles Robbins and Mary Stuart Robinson do a wonderful job conveying an odd juxtaposition of loving closeness and expansive distance between their characters that's all too real for many parents and their children. It's the kind of dynamic rarely seen on screen between mothers and sons and it's representation is fairly important.

Mortimer balances Horror and comedy wonderfully in Some Kind of Hate and does so again here. The comedic timing of the cast is absolutely perfect, just as the gruesomeness and bizarre nature of the scares is truly haunting. Finding the right balance between Horror and comedy can prove a challenge for a lot of films, but this is something that Daniel Isn't Real soars at.

In the end, while Daniel Isn't Real isn't anywhere near where I was hoping it to be, it's still a damn good movie and certainly one of the better Horror movies of 2019.

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7/10

andrewchristianjr12 October 2020

Are your inner demons real? An entertaining psychological horror. It boldly examines challenging subjects like mental illnesses alongside the struggle for self-confidence. How it handles mental health is thought-provoking and it never demonises suffers of these real-life issues.

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4/10

Otkon9 February 2020

The title leads the viewer to believe that there is some ambiguity as to whether Daniel exists or is a figment of Luke's imagination/psychosis.

But about the time we get to the goofy CGI Vulcan mind-meld in the sewers, all doubt is gone. Then it literally spirals into a lame version of the underworld. Very silly.

Son of Terminator is not that good of an actor. He clearly was hired for his name and his runway looks.

The secondary plot with the artistic girl never really built any chemistry with the lead. I didn't care about the plight of any of the characters.

And no one properly lit the scenes, making it even harder to watch. I don't remember a score.

It started off okay.

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8/10

anwaralhussaini1 December 2019

I accidentally come across this little gem.. Its psychological with horror element mix. About how we fight our own inner demons. Either we let the Demon take over ourselves or fight it till death..

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10/10

Reviews_of_the_Dead6 November 2019

This was a film that I heard about when I wrote an article for a site about it getting distribution and how well it did a festival. The concept was definitely intriguing and I was excited when the Nightmares Film Festival got it for its Ohio premiere, so I made sure when it kicked off the second day that I was in attendance. The synopsis is a troubled college freshman, Luke (Miles Robbins), suffers a violent family trauma and resurrects his childhood imaginary friend Daniel (Patrick Schwarzenegger) to help him cope.

This film actually starts inside of a coffee shop. John Thigpen (Daniel Marconi) comes in and starts to shoot the place up. It shifts to a house where Luke (Griffin Robert Faulkner) is a boy and he's sad. His parents are arguing and he decides to go for a walk. He comes to the coffee shop and notices a boy standing next to him, a young Daniel (Nathan Chandler Reid). They go off and play until Claire (Mary Stuart Masterson) comes to get him. Luke asks if Daniel can come and she agrees, just humoring him.

Things take a dark turn though. His parents get a divorce and Daniel doesn't like that Claire and Luke are close. Daniel gives him pills to give to his mother in a smoothie and it almost kills her. Luke is then forced to lock Daniel away in a dollhouse.

We then shift into the future. Luke is a loner and struggling in college. He's still close to his mother, but she has had a mental break. Luke is seeing a psychiatrist Dr. Cornelius Braun (Chukwudi Iwuji). He wants Luke to open up. In doing this, he releases Daniel. This changes his personality and he meets an artist Cassie (Sasha Lane) as well as a girl at a party, Sophie (Hannah Marks).

The problem though is that Daniel pushes him to do darker and darker things. He tries to find a way to stop him, but we soon see that Daniel might not actually be just in his head and there could be something much worse behind what he is.

Not to play my hand too early, but I loved this film. This one actually flirted the line with things being all in his head or being supernatural, but the progression of this had me hooked. We establish Luke and Daniel as children, what their lives at that time is like, but we subtle hints that Luke has some trouble at home that he's working through. It does seem like he is just a troubled boy who has created another persona within him to cope with that. I never really had an imaginary friend, but I definitely talk things out to myself so I get it.

From there though we are given Daniel could possibly be real as well. I'm not going to go into spoilers here, but I will say that Cassie does a painting of Luke and there's a shadow in it. What I like about this is that it starts down the path of him trying to figure out if he's just schizophrenic. There's also a history of mental illness in the family, so that is just another layer. This does remind me a bit of Dreamcatcher as well, in that we get to see inside of the mind where there are different rooms. I think that's a great way to show us things than to just tell us. This unfolds a back-story that I absolutely loved as well.

That shifts me to the pacing of this one, which I thought was really good as well. We jump right into this one with an opening scene that was shocking and from there we establish our lead as a child. We get an idea that he has an imaginary friend. From there we see that he has to get rid of him, in a great way I might add, after a horrible thing he does and from there we get into the main story. I don't think it ever lingered or drug, I was trying to piece together as we went and the mystery there was really good. The ending I thought was fitting for what the rest of the film established and it comes almost full circle as well.

As for the acting here, it was fitting for what we needed in this movie. I didn't recognize either star, aside from the adult Daniel being the son of Arnold Schwarzengger. What I really liked about him was the arrogance that he brought to the character. It really set it apart for me. Playing off him was Robbins, who I think actually did an even better job. He comes off as timid and unsure of himself. Once Daniel is released though, we see that gives him confidence. The best though is when he lets Daniel take over the personality and he mimics that other character on point. It was pretty amazing and it's funny that he's the son of Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon, since both stars have famous lineage. Lane and Marks are interesting in the change of Luke as they're quite different. Both really help move along the story as well Masterson. The rest of the cast definitely rounded this out for what was needed.

That will take me to the effects of this film, which I thought were really good. What is interesting is that the opening shot is of what looks like a solar system in space. We come back to this a couple times, which when revealed was great. It also looks beautiful. There are some interesting shots with Daniel not being seen and just ignored while he's talking to Luke. The blood and effects of these things look good as well. Everything did seem to be practical from what I could tell. We do get some creature effects a few times, which I was on board with. It was shot very well also.

Now with that said, if you couldn't tell from this review, I loved this movie. I thought that it tackles an idea that sometimes in films make or break it for me. How this handled it was on point and it sucked me right in. I like the idea of incorporating the supernatural along with mental illness, as it is something we don't fully understand and is quite terrifying when it doesn't get properly treated. The acting really gets this across along with the pacing, which was good in building the story along with the tension to a fitting ending. The soundtrack works for what they needed and definitely helped to set the mood for scenes. I also commend the actors for ignoring Daniel as well as Luke who is trying to listen to both at the same time. It really worked for me and I loved this film. It is definitely one of the best I've seen for sure. I would recommend this everyone.

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4/10

Leofwine_draca20 October 2020

A typical low budget horror film. This one takes a psychological approach which means there are some nicely surreal dream sequences thrown in along the way but most of the time I found this tedious and would rather watch something like AMERICAN PSYCHO or FIGHT CLUB instead as they handle the psychological aspects of a mental breakdown story in a much more impressive and intelligent way. This one's a typical digital film with naturalistic (read: boring) performances and a small scale feel. Patrick Schwarzenegger has fun in the devilish title role but the rest is quite tedious.

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9/10

Shewattsi23 October 2019

I saw this film recently at a film festival, wasn't really expecting much owing to the uninspired title and write up. However, I actually found this scary. This is a slow burn story of a young man descending in to mental illness. It's sinister and tense, it's main actors give excellent performances.

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7/10

jmbovan-47-16017319 July 2020

Daniel Isn't Real is set in the world of mental illness, but it isn't about mental illness. The main character Luke seemingly struggles with some sort of cognitive and psychiatric issue upon the return of his imaginary friend Daniel from childhood. Questions of mental illness plague Luke given his mother's own psychosis. But Daniel may be more than just the imaginary friend of Luke and the personification of Luke's libidinal impulses. And, this fantasy or supernatural element could place Luke outside the realm of your average psychiatric case. Or not. You decide.

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7/10

mike-bm-gm22 April 2020

Schwarzenegger crushed... you can see a bright future for his acting career... honestly if you like horror movies, you should give this a watch... you shouldnt even take reviewers who give out 1's and 10's seriously anyway... little bit of psychological horror, little bit of body horror, little bit of gore... nice combination to make a solid horror flick.

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7/10

TwistedContent28 November 2019

Ever since seeing the trailer for "Daniel Isn't Real" I had a very good feeling about it - felt like something right up my isle. I also have to admit that Mortimer's previous feature "Some Kind of Hate" wasn't particularly enjoyable in my book, in fact I gave it a 3/10. However, I'm happy to conclude that "Daniel Isn't Real" is a huge improvement in the directors portfolio & is an ambitious, imaginative and effective portrayal of inner demons, mental illness and also toxic masculinity.

Adam Egypt Mortimer's second feature doesn't work equally great on all levels and consistently through its runtime, but it still impresses. The first hour was disturbingly gorgeous - the tone, the practical effects, acting & production design together made an atmospheric, intriguing and well-paced story of a millennial protagonist (portrayed by Miles Robbins) dealing with past trauma, mental health issues and a vile personal demon called Daniel, given a maniacal and slick appearance by the performance of Patrick Schwarzenegger. Seemingly inspired by the best from several cult films, Mortimer has created an arguably fresh take on schizophrenia in the horror genre, proving that it (the genre) allows to depict emotions and sensations that are otherwise complicated to serve in a readable way. The last thirty or so minutes still keeps the tone, acting & aesthetic intact, but the pacing starts to get a little uneven as new plot turns take place - plot turns which meaning/s I'm not sure of. The word "fantasy", in its more classical sense, comes to mind, unfittingly this time. Not that I didn't understand them, I just question their necessity and impact on the rest of story, I felt like the ending could've been, should've been even more morally messed up.

For the most part I loved "Daniel Isn't Real" in and out, but, nearing the end, something that can be described as underwhelming crept up in me. Nevertheless, it has established itself as one of my favorite horror indies of 2019 & comes as a strong recommendation from me to everyone who loves their schizo, psycho, psychedelic, atmospheric and mentally messed up horror movies. My rating: 7/10.

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4/10

jdiz11512 December 2019

The plot is already questionable but throw in Patrick's acting and the film becomes a comedy. Also, I'm tired of movies always having that "type of girl" in movies. You know she shows up uninvited, invites people she barely knows into her home, is a bit wild but caring enough to make up for it and of course she has to be an artist. Yeah we've seen it before. This film is ridiculous.

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6/10

johannes2000-19 September 2020

There's nothing wrong with the premise: a young guy gets harassed by the old imaginary friend from his childhood who mysteriously pops up in his life again. But I think the makers more or less got entangled in their ambitions and in the complexity of the story, resulting in this unbalanced mixture of psychological, existential and supernatural sources for all the goings-on. It made it hard (at least for me) to team up with main character Luke, all the more since they made Miles Robbins play him like a sad depressed loner, dragging himself with bended head through the NY streets. The part of Patrick Schwarzenegger is way more rewarding, he plays the machiavellistic, devilish Daniel with panache, very convincingly evoking in Luke a mounting feeling of exasperation, aversion and in the end mortal fear. And a special mention of the small but important part of Luke's mentally derailed mother, played very touchingly by Mary Stuart Masterson.

The settings are a bit underwhelming, rather dark and grey, but the special effects are pretty good, and although the story gradually grew a bit too complex and weird, the movie is entertaining enough to keep you interested until the end. But if you would ask me to explain it all? You better don't.....

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4/10

popcolin2 January 2020

Like as if a teendrama novel was turned into a movie. This wouldn't be the worse thing but the movie starts out so much more incredibly raw than it turns out to be. We start with a boys imaginary friend telling him prescription pills will give his mother superpowers, so he dumps them in the blender. Then halfway through the movie the imaginary friend literally becomes a "wingman" to help him impress the girl and look like a great guy. Hmm. I just don't know. It seems to be either the kind of movie that does not take the viewer seriously or it just had serious creative difficulties in the writing process. It comes off looking tacky, like it is a kid trying to make an adult movie. It's disapointing because the music and cinematography really had me at some moments

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