Daniela Forever
I really enjoy sci-fi movies that get to a human experience, first and foremost. And two of the movies in the 2000s that really connected with me are “Waking Life” and “Eternal Sunshine on the Spotless Mind.” Nacho Vigalondo’s “Daniela Forever” touches so many of the bases that those films hit that it should be a slam dunk for me. The film does start off promising, but- despite Henry Golding’s performance- it overstays its welcome and becomes very predictable in where it’s headed. I like the ideas, but at a certain point, the film loses sight of its ideas, and it doesn’t really get back on track until the very end. In a way, that’s a good reflection of its protagonist.
Nicolás (Golding) is struggling after the unexpected death of Daniela (Beatrice Grannò), his girlfriend, in an accident. He met someone at the funeral, but emotionally, his life is still in shambles. His friend, Victoria (Nathalie Poza), lets him in on a therapeutic new treatment for loss and grief that she has been doing, but he has to agree to certain conditions before he’s able to go forward. It’s a sleep trial that uses lucid dreaming as a way to heal. But what happens when it sucks you in so much, and you want to be back in that reality?
In a way, “Daniela Forever” is the opposite of “Eternal Sunshine”- rather than erasing a loved one to avoid grief, this film posits the idea of giving someone free reign to rekindle their lost love, so they don’t lose themselves in grief. Neither are a healthy way of coping, it turns out, because the human mind is infinitely complex, and human emotions are not so easily suppressed by the mind. Nicolás sees this as a way to sidestep the pain of loss, and live a life he felt deprived of, and he isn’t honest about his experiences with the professionals overlooking his treatment. He wants this all to himself, which truthfully, I get- we all wish we had one, last moment with a loved one where everything was perfect, and it is ours and ours alone. But Nicolás’s hiding of his experiences is just a level of his dishonesty throughout the process; he thinks that if he makes the world around them in his lucid dreams just right, everything will be alright. But dreams are not easily controlled, either. I forgot to include “Inception” above, and that’s another great point of reference for this film, especially given the way its story progresses.
Golding is fantastic in the lead role. He takes us on this journey emotionally in a way that the script very clearly wants to go, but the execution takes its time getting to. At almost two hours, “Daniela Forever” has some repetitious moments that feel more like filler in getting to the point than essential to the story. Once it gets to its emotional climax, however, the film lands its punches, in part because Golding understands implicitly what matters in this film. It doesn’t elevate to the heights of those earlier films, but I still found myself appreciating where it goes, and- for the most part- how it gets there.
