THE STORY – In the latest from Nacho Vigalondo (“Colossal,” TIFF ’16), Henry Golding (“Crazy Rich Asians“) soulfully portrays a bereaved man who enrolls in a clinical trial for a drug that allows him to reunite with his lost lover (Beatrice Grannò) through lucid dreams.
THE CAST – Henry Golding, Beatrice Grannò, Aura Garrido, Rubén Ochandiano & Nathalie Poza
THE TEAM – Nacho Vigalondo (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 118 Minutes
Filmmakers have been exploring grief over the loss of loved ones since the medium’s beginning, although it seems to have expanded its popularity as a theme in recent years. “Daniela Forever,” the latest film from cinematic madman Nacho Vigalondo, has one of the most original concepts for exploring this theme, using lucid dreams to examine the death of a lover in a similar way to how “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” used memories to explore a breakup, both doubling as a commentary on the agency of men and women in relationships. In typical Vigalondo fashion, the extremely clever concept and creative execution are far more intriguing in theory than in practice. However, the concept of “Daniela Forever” does so much heavy lifting that it still satisfies as a piece of cinema.
Nick (Henry Golding) is moving through his life in Madrid in a daze after the death of his artist lover, Daniela (Beatrice Grannò). To help, a concerned friend gets him into a clinical trial that has helped her with her own issues through lucid dreaming. Nick makes a mistake the first time he tries the drug and ends up creating a version of Daniela in his mind. She seems perfectly real, and as Nick abuses the drug to spend more time with her, he gains more ability to control his dreams. This gives him additional control over her, but Daniela eventually starts becoming more autonomous, talking about her ex Teresa (Aura Garrido), whom Nick has been getting closer to in real life after connecting at Daniela’s funeral. Will Nick finally be able to move on from his grief and stop spending all his time lucid dreaming, or will he try to spend all his time in the dream world, keeping Daniela to himself?
Vigalondo has always had no trouble coming up with great concepts: His last film, 2016’s “Colossal,“ follows a woman who becomes a kaiju whenever she gets blackout drunk, and his 2007 debut feature “Timecrimes“ is one of the most uniquely unhinged time travel films you’ll ever see. The lucid dreaming concept allows for a lot of formalist fun, and Vigalondo dives right in, playing with freeze frames, speed ramping, sound shifting, and numerous other cinematic tricks in the dream world. The highest aesthetic choice he makes is also the most effective: The real-world segments are filmed in Betamax, which gives reality a digital filter mirroring the haze of Nick’s life, while the dream sequences are in widescreen digital, full of rich, warm colors, creating an inviting environment that feels more real than the real world. While the idea behind that choice isn’t the most original, the use of Betamax gives the film a unique look and feel, and the stark contrast between the dream and real worlds puts us fully in Nick’s perspective.
While Vigalondo, the director, executes this beautifully, Vigalondo, the writer, unfortunately, has some issues executing his concept. After quickly establishing the stakes of the clinical trial and Nick’s attitude towards it, we spend very little time in the real world for the bulk of the film. That is, until things start getting convoluted, and the dream world and real world are confused. The idea behind this is great, but it becomes difficult to follow because we spend so little time in the real world before the concept-heavy finale. On top of that, the end recenters the film in a way that doesn’t seem to fit with everything we’ve seen. At this point, the film itself has become an ouroboros, going so far around itself that it’s impossible to tell where its focus is meant to be.
Thankfully, Golding is a rock at the film’s center, turning in his most dramatic, emotionally resonant performance yet. He effectively hollows himself out in the early real-world scenes, drifting around only half present. The more he sees Daniela, the more he begins to glow, and he’s looser here than he’s ever been before onscreen, leading to some lovely comedic moments and fantastic chemistry with Grannò (who leans a bit too much into manic pixie dream girl territory). But, the film would not work without the increasing commitment he displays as his love starts slipping away from him again. As the plot gets crazier and things unravel, Nick’s desperation grows, and Golding anchors the film in emotion so palpable that it saves the film from going completely up its ass. Even when “Daniela Forever“ threatens to unravel completely, Golding keeps it together on the strength of his performance alone. He’s a dream from which you don’t want to wake up.
