It is difficult to suppress traumatic events in life, something that could be scarring for life, as “Daniel Isn’t Real” explores in this horror thriller.
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Based on the novel “In This Way I Was Saved” by Brian DeLeeuw, the film sees Miles Robbins (“Blockers”) bring deceased friend Patrick Schwarzenegger (“Midnight Sun”) back from the dead in order to cope with a traumatic event.
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“Daniel Isn’t Real” was first showcased back at the SXSW Film Festival, and was then picked up shortly afterward by Samuel Goldwyn Films who are to distribute the film.
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Robbins, who is playing the main character college freshman Luke, spoke to the Daily Dead during the film festival about how today’s mindsets on mental health helped him understand his character, “often, the dialogue that goes on in a lot of young men’s minds is based on societal pressures, and those pressures encourage a really dark internal dialogue.” He continued, “for me, there is a lot about what Luke is going through in this that reminds me of finding confidence with Daniel.”
Schwarzenegger also spoke about Daniel’s influence on Luke, “we have Luke, this one character, and it’s Daniel that is pressuring him to be more of a man, go and hit on this girl, all these different things.” He went on to say, “A lot of the times, I wanted to have him be a character that was having enjoyment and fun with this process of messing with Luke.”
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The film plays on the mindset of today’s younger generation, of how the effects of mental health can have a deeper impact on someone, and how we should take care of our own mental health.
The project is directed by Adam Egypt Mortimer (“Some Kind Of Hate” and “Holidays”), who also co-wrote it alongside DeLeeuw. The film will star Sasha Lane (“American Honey”), Miles Robbins (Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon‘s son, also in the recent “Halloween“), Hannah Marks (“Anesthesia”) and Mary Stuart Masterson (“Some Kind of Wonderful”).
Here is the synopsis:
A troubled college freshman, Luke, suffers a violent family trauma and resurrects his childhood imaginary friend Daniel to help him cope.
“Daniel Isn’t Real” will be released on 6th December. Watch the teaser trailer from Comic-Con below.
