In Your Dreams (2025)

How’s that for synchronicity? This animated movie has been on Netflix for over three months, but I only saw it for the first time, last night. The children are siblings: Stevie is about 12, Elliot is about 8. That age difference may be the real cause of their ‘conflicts’, but one night they share a strange dream about flying.

Most of their dreams have nightmarish qualities to them, but they discover that by holding hands and working together, they can overcome any obstacles and approach their goals.

The siblings eventually reach the Sandman’s castle, hoping that he will cast their wish where their parents will not move away to Duluth. However, unlike the benevolent figure they expected, the Sandman traps dreamers by offering them a “perfect” fantasy life that never ends, keeping them asleep forever so he can feed on their dreams. He offers Stevie a simulation of her life where her parents are happy and—crucially—where her brother Elliot never existed.

Wikipedia

As always, I won’t tell you how this turns out, but I need to remind you of the adage (somewhat modified): “Be careful what you dream for, you just might get it.”

An enjoyable romp, nonetheless, with many cultural references visually, like the Sandman’s castle is the alien spaceship in “Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind”, for example.

And some more:

And one more:

P.S. Stevie reminds me of my granddaughter, Miss B.