Daniela Forever, 2025.
Written and Directed by Nacho Vigalondo.
Starring Henry Golding, Beatrice Grannò, Aura Garrido, Rubén Ochandiano, Nathalie Poza, Pilar Bergés, Godeliv Van den Brandt, Frank Feys, and Rocío Saiz.
SYNOPSIS:
Follows a man as he joins a sleep trial that allows him to rebuild his life with his girlfriend who died in an accident through the use of lucid dreams.
Writer/director Nacho Vigalondo is somewhat of an underappreciated auteur given that his latest high concept sci-fi, Daniela Forever, seems to be releasing in some theaters this weekend to almost no fanfare whatsoever, which should be considered heresy considering the filmmaker gave us Colossal, the Anne Hathaway led story about alcoholism that featured kaijus. Here, the theme of alcoholism is traded for grief, with Henry Golding’s Nicolas struggling to move on following a fatal accident that took the life of his girlfriend, the titular Daniela (Beatrice Grannò).
That grieving process takes an unhealthy but curious turn when Nicolas signs up for a clinical trial involving sleeping medication designed to force lucid dreaming. Rather than follow the instructions of what to conjure up in his subconscious and report on it, Nicolas uses this as a guaranteed opportunity to reconnect with Daniela continuously. As such, he starts dreaming so much (possibly abusing the pills in the process) that one begins to wonder if, at some point, he will lose touch with all reality and never want to wake up.
Naturally, Daniela Forever comes with surprises about the true nature of the relationship, introducing Aura Garrido’s Teresa, a woman who attended the funeral, and who has a thornier history with Daniela. Throughout the dream segments (which notably expand the photograph aspect ratio of the real world into full-screen, perhaps suggesting that without Daniela, Nicolas’ universe feels small, emptier, and much less colorful), rules are gradually established of where they can go, how much they know, and how particular sci-fi abilities come into play. Nicolas has a newfound sense of control in the relationship, able to essentially treat Daniela like a VHS tape, erasing conversations from her mind or rewinding and fast-forwarding her with simple voice commands. Sometimes he uses that ability playfully and without harm; other times, it’s as if he’s running from the inevitable realization that not everything in their relationship was rosy.
The film also operates on familiar lucid dream logic, with Nicolas able to bend the universe to his will in these segments, whether it be unlocking the door with his mind or transforming the surroundings into a location such as the club where they met. The only rule is that he can only bring in or explore environments already imprinted into his real-world mind. Anything else is depicted as a sludgy substance that will disappear once he uncovers it back in reality. There are also moments where quirkiness is embraced, donning amusing Halloween costumes (for reasons that won’t be spoiled, but are cute and then take on a more empowering vibe) that are a mixture of intentionally generic and hilariously imaginative. It also remains impressive how convincing Nacho Vigalondo’s films are, even in the special-effects department, given their presumably tiny budgets.
For as indisputably creative as Daniel Forever is (splicing together ingredients from Eternal Sunshines of the Spotless Mind, The Adjustment Bureau, and Inception into a concoction that is distinctly Nacho Vigalondo), it is also disappointingly less interested in engaging with some of the darker, more troubling implications of the sci-fi elements and losing oneself to a dreamworld. Instead, it remains fixated on a continuation of the relationship with revelations along the way that throw everything Nicolas knows about it into question. As such, it tends to suffer from sluggish pacing while ending on an anticlimactic note.
Nevertheless, there is also a hypnotic pull and quiet beauty to Daniela Forever, a film that treats its limbo-like dreamworld as equally eerie and magical. Nacho Vigalondo has an impressive lead pairing with chemistry and the astute mind to delve deeply into his sci-fi concept. The film primarily works, even if at a certain point it starts to feel like it might actually go on forever.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder
