The imaginary friend has a long lineage in Hollywood. I’m reminded of “Harvey,“ which featured a Jimmy Stewart character who claimed to rub shoulders with a giant talking rabbit. There’s a lesser-known comedy from the 80s, “Drop Dead Fred,“ where Phoebe Cates’ childhood pal reappears in her life when she’s an adult, causing havoc..
“Daniel Isn’t Real” is cut from similar cloth, though with a horror twist. After witnessing an act of violence, grade-school aged Luke meets a friend his own age, a boy named Daniel only he can see. Eventually, Luke’s mother, who has deep psychological issues, demands Luke metaphorically lock this friend away in a model house. But Daniel, now grown up, reappears when Luke is 21 and he starts pushing Luke into all kinds of disturbing situations.
The question is, is Daniel merely a figment of Luke’s imagination—possibly resulting from Luke inheriting his mother’s schizophrenia—or is he something more?
I liked the film. It’s of the same breed of plodding intellectual horror you might place “It Follows“ or “Hereditary“ into. Set a New York, it has a hipster Brooklyn vibe that brought to my mind the great cringe comedy TV show “Search Party.“
Patrick Schwarzenegger plays the older version of Daniel, and he does a great job. He really brought to mind Christian Bale’s portrayal of Patrick Bateman in the film “American Psycho.“
The soundtrack, including a lot of eerie, percussive bells, very much stood out.
At its heart, the film must be saying something about mental illness, though I’m not really clear what. Nonetheless, it’s absolutely worth a watch.
