When Luke decided to leave his mother's home and face emancipation, he never thought it would be so complicated. His social awkwardness and his diverse traumas will make him seek the aid of an old buddy: his imaginary childhood friend Daniel, who is now a self-confident, manipulative young man. Daniel will start to help Luke, but his intentions will soon prove to be somewhat more sinister.... (Full plot summary below)
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When Luke decided to leave his mother's home and face emancipation, he never thought it would be so complicated. His social awkwardness and his diverse traumas will make him seek the aid of an old buddy: his imaginary childhood friend Daniel, who is now a self-confident, manipulative young man. Daniel will start to help Luke, but his intentions will soon prove to be somewhat more sinister.
Leave your thoughts about Daniel Isn't Real.
| Film ThreatChuck FosterIt’s thoroughly engrossing, entertaining, and a lot of fun from beginning to end. |
| The A.V. ClubKatie RifeA slick and thrilling take on the intersection of mental illness and creative inspiration that also doubles as a commentary on toxic masculinity. |
| The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckAlthough it eventually settles into familiar genre tropes, for much of its running time Daniel Isn't Real proves a genuinely provocative shocker. |
| Consequence of SoundMike VanderbiltDaniel Isn’t Real is exploitation that eschews the trashier elements of the genre. As a director, Mortimer frames a great shot and pulls gangbusters performances out of Robbins and Schwarzenegger. It’s minded, but also massively entertaining genre cinema. |
| The New York TimesTeo BugbeeWhat starts as a mediocre psychological thriller finishes as a surprisingly toothsome and creative horror film, complete with creature features and journeys into the abyss. |
| The GuardianCath ClarkeIt’s full of plot holes but compulsively watchable for the first hour, before the whole thing falls to pieces as Mortimer chucks in a load of well-worn horror-movie tropes. |
| Los Angeles TimesGeoff BerkshireIn supporting roles of varying importance, Masterson, Sasha Lane and Hannah Marks do enough to suggest the film would have been better off giving them more. But Daniel Isn’t Real remains a two-man show, and Robbins and Schwarzenegger are an odd couple worth believing in. |
| RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsThe best thing I can say about Daniel Isn’t Real is that it’s a promising early feature made by young artists who haven’t yet worked out how to express and/or synthesize what they like about their favorite artists and their work. It’s all style and very little substance. |
| The A.V. ClubLawrence GarciaMortimer builds Daniel Isn’t Real to a conclusion that, in concept, should be both tragic and terrifying. Here, it just feels perfunctory. |
| EmpireKambole CampbellDull and often exploitative, Daniel Isn’t Real coasts on the familiar faces of its lead actors while wasting their potential. |
