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Much of the creative talent behind Netflix‘s latest animated feature film, In Your Dreams, came from working at one time for Pixar so expectations for something on the level of that ‘toon giant might be higher than they should be. If you come in hoping for the kind of innovative films Pixar has regularly turned out you will be disappointed. If you are instead looking for something to keep the kids amused for an hour and a half, this visually dreamy concoction is just the ticket, but it IS strictly for kids with its Afterschool Special-style messaging very much in the wheelhouse of predictable entertainment for the younger ones. With a premise that definitely does seem original for a big scale family animated entertainment, this one, from director and co-writer Alex Woo and his screenplay collaborator and co-director Erik Benson (both veterans of the Pixar story department), is all about dream worlds and how they might relate to the real world of kids. It centers on 12 year old Stevie (voiced by Jodie Hoang-Rappaport) who is a straight ‘A’ totally together, natural born leader young girl hitting an emotional bump in the road with fears that her parents might be breaking up. The thought of this very real world problem for lots of kids disturbs her to the point that she reels in younger brother and roommate, 8 year old Elliot (Elias Janssen) with a dream scheme after discovering the Book Of The Sandman, a mythical creature who is said to be able to make your dreams come true. So with a dream to make her family whole again the siblings go on the hunt for the Sandman (Omid Djalili) a kind of dreams merchant who has the caveat they you must dream it together. That is the trick here, as both kids set about exploring their dreams in search of, well, the impossible one to make their ultimate wish of saving their family unit a reality. To do this we see them taking to the skies in their flying bed, eventually accompanied by the lucky discovery of Elliot’s long lost ever faithful if fading stuffed toy one-eyed giraffe, Baloney Tony ( a lively hipster Craig Robinson voice). At first, since so many animated films feel like dream worlds anyway, it is hard to pinpoint what is in their subconscious sleeping mode and what is in their actual life. Elliot turns up naked in a shopping mall for instance. Could that be real? Probably not in a family ‘toon. He also dreams of bigger muscles, while sister Stevie finds her deep thoughts of breakfast time thrusting here into a bowl of food and a world where cereals, hot dogs, and French Toast are quite human (the film’s most successful and colorful sequence with dazzling foodie visuals). Real? Of course not, and as the film continues, the designs and dreams get more ambitious and even threatening as the search for Sandman, who pops in and out, continues, and they first also have to deal with the frightening Nightmara (Gia Carides) to get to him. The problem here is creating a scenario with real world consequences because everyone knows we always wake up from our dreams and nightmares, and thus ultimately there is no actual harm. Storywise that means there must be a strong motivation, and here Woo and Benson only come up with a rather flat one in pure Parent Trap fashion to bring their parents back to the way it has always been. Unlike the aforementioned Parent Trap, the marital problems actually don’t seem like that big a deal. Mom (Cristin Milioti) and Dad (Simu Lu) are just going throught a bad patch and were always close from the days they formed a band together. When the babies came Mom knew she had to be more practical as Dad’s musical dreams cratered, and so she got a job teaching music at the local community college. Now with a possible offer for a University professorship which would require the family to pick up stakes and move, there is friction between them but it never seems too threatening and is dealt with quite gently even as Stevie sees it as a major event. In other words the domestic drama is kept to a minimum, so the end game for Stevie and Elliot (who in typical younger brother fashion is just along for the exciting ride) isn’t life or death, the usual stakes at play in most animated movies these days which always feature a pronounced villain kids can understand – and conquer. Here the “villain” is rather opaque, if still a universal problem kids may encounter in their own families, if not their dreams. The star attraction are the dazzling CGI dream sequences, sometimes loopy, sometimes wildly weird, always colorful and kept to slumber time and the hope that Mr. Sandman (as the 1950’s hit song plays in the background) hears their plea: “Mr. Sandman Please Turn On Your Magic Beam – Mr. Sandman Bring Us A Dream”. Producers are Timothy Hahn, Gregg Taylor. Title: In Your Dreams Distributor: Netflix Release Date: November 14, 2025 (Streaming); Theatrical qualifying run November 7, 2025. Director: Alex Woo Screenplay: Erik Benson and Alex Woo Cast: Simu Liu, Cristin Milioti, Craig Robinson, Jodie Hoang-Rappaport, Elias Janssen, Omid Djalili, Gia Carides Rating: PG
