Given the imaginative manner he has expressed in his previous work, it makes sense that Nacho Vigalondo (Colossal) would create something like Daniela Forever, a romantic science-fiction tale that adds layer upon layer of artistry to itself that it practically (and unfortunately) comes undone.
A little Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a little Inception, and a lot of tonal inconsistency, Daniela Forever has a wonderful sense of initial world building, where Nicolas (Henry Golding) enrolls in a treatment that allows him to experience lucid dreams. Nicolas is a DJ who has recently lost Daniela (Beatrice Grannò, the Italian actress best known for her role as aspiring lounge singer Mia in the second season of White Lotus), a mysterious woman that we, as an audience, sadly don’t get to know on any emotional level. The lengths Nicolas goes to in order to live out a life with her – a life that was evidently stolen – are extreme, but we’re immediately on the backfoot as she is never formed as a figure we can understand or relate to. Grannò is similarly wasted, and her chemistry with Golding leaves much to be desired.
The most interesting ingredient that Vigalondo implements into Daniela Forever is the ratio aspect change. In the “real world”, where Nicolas is depressed and has retreated into himself in the wake of Daniela’s passing, we’re treated to a VHS-like scratch picture in a 4:3 frame. When he takes his prescription and slips into extended sleep, the screen opens up to a more cinemascope picture. It’s an amusing shift, and on the most basic level it allows us to always know which reality we are in, but it’s something of a gimmick that doesn’t result in anything of worth. And that’s much of Daniela Forever‘s problem, that anything interesting that the film could do or say is never wholly committed to.
There’s a certain darkness to the film, and Nicolas’ actions are deeply rooted in a toxic selfishness – we see that he can essentially control Daniela’s actions in this dreamscape – and as much as Daniela Forever would’ve been a more uncomfortable, potentially triggering film had it committed to such a gloomy mentality, it would’ve undoubtedly been a more enveloping experience. There are such interesting ideas at bay, and across its 118 minutes it flirts with them with a mixture of affection and quirkiness, but nothing ever comes to fruition in the way the film, its characters, its performers and us as an audience deserve.
As much as Daniela Forever underwhelms, it’s still worthy of praise for the mere fact that it’s enough of an original piece of cinema in a landscape continually engulfed by sequels and remakes. It stumbles, without question, but at least it’s bold enough to dream big – even if it proves a restless experience.
TWO AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Daniela Forever is screening as part of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, running between September 5th and 15th, 2024. For more information about the festival, head to the official site here.
