SPOILERS are ahead for In Your Dreams, now streaming for those with a Netflix subscription.
Ever since I saw the trailer for In Your Dreams, I’ve been excited about its release on streaming, but now that I’ve seen it, wow, did it blow me away. The animated film that comes from former Pixar filmmaker Alex Woo tells a touching story about siblings who find out The Sandman exists, and decide to seek him out to keep their family together. I got a chance to talk to Woo about one element of the movie that’s really going to stick with me.
I Love How The Ending Of In Your Dreams Changed My Perspective On Dreams
I’ve always thought of nightmares as a nuisance, and honestly, I try my best to avoid them at all costs if I can because they scare me, and can sometimes ruin my whole day. In this new movie, Stevie and Elliot find ways to get out of nightmares in order to reach The Sandman. However, when Elliot meets Nightmara, she says this to him:
[Sandman] decided dreamers didn’t need nightmares cause they were too scary. But he’s wrong. Nightmares make us strong, so we can face what’s really scary in life. The unknown.
In act three of In Your Dreams, we realize that what The Sandman can give isn’t necessarily a good thing, and Stevie becomes trapped inside the dream she wished for. But when Elliot comes literally face-to-face with Nightmara, he learns that nightmares were never the enemy. She was actually trying to help him!
What Alex Woo Told Me About The In Your Dreams Ending
During CinemaBlend’s interview with Alex Woo, I asked the writer/director about how he came across this aspect of the movie. Here’s what he said:
That was part of the very original concept of the film. I wanted to flip the charge on Dreams and Nightmares because I think, especially in Western culture, dreams are sort of idolized, and it’s like ‘pursue your dreams at all costs. You gotta make them come true.’ And I think that dreams are great. But sometimes, if you pursue them too fervently and you ignore reality or you ignore everything else, you neglect everything else. You can get lost in a dream, and it actually can become a nightmare.
While I still don’t love nightmares, I’ve never really thought about them being something that can protect me until this movie. But the movie is right, nightmares have helped me prepare for the real world – oftentimes more than the “good” dreams have. As Woo also said:
And oftentimes, I’ve found in life that sometimes when I’m experiencing a setback or something where it doesn’t go my way and it feels like it’s a nightmare, I look back and I realize, ‘Oh, that moment was so pivotal in the formation of who I am and my character, and I learned so much from that moment’. It set me off in a direction that at the time didn’t seem right to me, but looking back was exactly the right path that I needed to take.
What a beautiful sentiment that’s out in the world now that In Your Dreams is on Netflix! Sure, there’s the already viral Tony Baloney and the amazing cast, including Simu Liu and Cristin Milioti. However, I really appreciate it when I watch an animated movie and feel like not only did I take something from it I can bring to my life, but it makes me think about how said film would have enriched my childhood if I had it back then.
In Your Dreams is definitely one of those movies, not only for how it talks about dreams, but what it’s like to have parents who are going through relationship shifts as a kid. I’m so happy it exists.