Summary
The film highlights grief through the fantastical elements of Slumberland but isn’t as engaging emotionally as it should have been.
We review the Netflix film Slumberland, which does not contain any significant spoilers.
There have been many films recently that have explored grief in different ways, and Slumberland does it through dreams. In this film, a young girl discovers a secret map to the dreamworld of Slumberland, and with the help of an eccentric outlaw, she traverses dreams and flees nightmares with the hope that she will be able to see her late father again.
In some moments, young Nemo (Marlow Barkley) grounds the dreamlike fantasy with her grieving. The story works when Nemo is in reality with her uncle Philip (Chris O’Dowd). Trying to navigate her father’s death is one thing, but then being linked to a fantasy dream world with him is her comfort. Her dad Peter (Kyle Chandler), would tell her wonderful stories and share the time he spent in Slumberland with her.
He shared his experiences, and that is the one thing that she remembers him for. So, in order for her to feel close to her dad again, she enters the world. There, she meets Flip (Jason Momoa), who is a very obscure character. He’s excitable, friendly, and a bit sassy.
Nemo had to start doing things on her own without her father, which is an incredibly difficult thing to do. She had to move schools and since she was very young, she needed to find a guardian. She felt more at home in Slumberland than she did with her Uncle Philip.
The film does take a while to get going and there are some adventurous parts to pick up the pace, but ultimately it felt like it dragged. The story isn’t that engaging and it really only resonates with audiences when Nemo is exploring and processing her grief. Those are the best moments of the film. Even Momoa’s grand performance as Flint didn’t add much to the wonderment of Slumberland.
There is also quite a bit of exposition in defining the land, rather than showing viewers what it consists of. It almost feels like the story wasn’t as balanced as it could have been. They spent a lot of time in the fantasy world trying to explain Flint’s connection to her father and what they used to do. There are many rules in Slumberland that fit the narrative but it’s all out of convenience that some things work.
The special effects were strong for the most part and it did have that childlike wonder, but for some reason, something was missing. There’s a level of connectivity to the characters that should have been there but it wasn’t. That comes down to the writing of the film and if the lines of dialogue were believable enough for the audience to emotionally connect with Nemo and the loss of her father.
Sometimes things can get a bit convoluted in a fantastical story like this, and the execution of certain emotions can get lost in the grand scheme of things.
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