by Shane Conto, Staff Writer
Nacho Vigalondo’s Colossal was a wild, genre-bending film about toxic relationships that dropped in 2016, and has lingered for many cinephiles since. Vigalondo has mostly been stuck in TV and streaming land, directing episodes of shows like Into the Dark, Just Before Christ, and Our Flag Means Death. But his new feature film Daniela Forever is finally making its way to theaters this summer. This is a tale of a man who recently lost his girlfriend and signs up for a sleep study that is meant to utilize lucid dreams to reframe his perspective to his life before her. Temptation can be a strong force… and he decides to dream through his relationship instead, so he never has to lose Daniela in the first place.
Does Vigalondo bring his creative juices back for this new film? Absolutely. With the main mechanism in the film being lucid dreaming, there are so many visual possibilities, and cinematographer Jon D. Domínguez works with Vigalondo’s vision. They make a specific decision to differentiate the real world and the lucid dreams. The dreaming sequences are striking, colorful, and engrossing, while the real world shifts to a square aspect ratio, giving the film a more claustrophobic feel, especially for our depressed protagonist Nicolás (Henry Golding). The film grading also channels shaky and rough video tape quality that makes the real world feel so grim and dour. Plus, there are plenty of wild visuals (through computer-generated effects) in the dreams that are quite unnerving and strange. As Nicolás’ mental health begins to spiral, we struggle to keep straight what is real, and the visual styling begins to muddy as well. There are some legitimately unnerving moments that make this a roller coaster ride of a cinematic experience. Visually, Vigalondo delivers. Emotionally, there is real impact.
Like with Colossal, Vigalondo subverts a lot of expectations in Daneila Forever. You can draw similarities between itand films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Paprika. The manipulation of dreams and reality is key to this story, and Vigalondo leverages that well.
Now, the film does take a while to really get going, and you must be really invested in getting late into this experience for the ideas to start threading together. Daniela is almost two hours, yet it struggles to justify all of that.
Nicolás’ journey is compelling, as he is not quite who he seems. In most films like this, we are wholly invested in this relationship, but Vigalondo does a great job of peeling back layers to reveal what this relationship was really like as well as who Nicolás and Daniela (Beatrice Grannò) really are. There is a healthy helping of twists and turns, which all lead up to a surprising finale that doesn’t always come together.
Meanwhile, this is probably his best performance of Golding’s career so far. The emotional depth that he injects into Nicolás makes so much of this film work. You need Nicolás to be empathetic during most of the film, and Golding brings the right amount of charm and charisma to get the audience drawn in and compelled. But we feel every twist and turn of the character because Golding’s performance is so authentic.
But Grannò is the hidden gem of the film. Her performance as Daniela is compelling, alluring, and dynamic. She gets the audience to deeply invest in Daniela’s loss, because she brings so much life to her performance. As the film challenges the audience’s connection to Nicolás, Grannò continuously adds layers to Daniela, making her stand all on her own (outside of the constructed persona that Nicolás has crafted in his dreams and memories).
Additionally, Aura Garrido is a great addition to the film as Daniela’s ex-partner — she brings a great presence, as well as a connection with Daniela. This core cast does such a great job injecting the needed emotion into this daring and ambitious genre flick.
While Daniela Forever does not quite live up to the same quality and consistency as Colossal, the important thing to acknowledge is that it has plenty to explore, connect with, and appreciate. It is a bold, ambitious, and engaging cinematic experience.
Rating: Liked It
Daniela Forever is currently playing in theaters
You can read more from Shane Conto, and follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd