Review: Slumberland

For being a movie based off a comic strip from 1905, ‘Slumberland’ surprises in its approach to dealing with grief, loss, and mourning.

Slumberland takes the audience on a visually stunning and entertaining journey, while also giving a surprisingly deep emotional experience for a kid who just lost her Dad.

The Plot – Slumberland

We know going in that Nemo loses her Dad.  Still, to see Kyle Chandler‘s performance as Peter to lead off the film, shows just how much Nemo loses when he’s lost at sea.  He’s not just her sole surviving parent and guardian, he’s her whole world.

Nemo starts the film living in a picturesque lighthouse, being raised by her single Father.  Her education is more ‘hands on’ and less ‘home school’, as she envisions living with her Father in the lighthouse as her life.

Peter teaches her not just Math and lighthouse maintenance, but also morals and life lessons.  And, when Nemo, played by Marlow Barkley, last sees her Dad, he leaves teaching her the meaning of helping those in need, even when there’s great risk to himself.

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Sadly, Nemo wakes up after the big storm only to realize she’s now all alone in this world, left only with an Uncle she barely knew existed the day before.  Uncle Phillip, played by Chris O’Dowd, only shows up to claim his niece after being given a massive guilt trip; and begrudgingly, laconically, takes Nemo home with him to the City.

Nemo’s new world is posh and upper class, but she’s left completely out of her element.  Huge Condominium in a downtown highrise, private school wearing a button down uniform, and an emotionally distant caretaker — Nemo’s left all alone in her state of mourning.

Nemo’s only solace comes from a Satyr — a Satyr from her dreams, named ‘Flip’, and played by Jason Momoa.  As Nemo’s waking world falls apart, she retreats inward to ‘Slumberland’; a land of dreams where anything is possible, and she hopes to reunite with her Father.

Flip becomes her inadvertent guide to Slumberland, and encourages Nemo to lucid dream her way back to her Dad.  That is until the fuzz shows up, and the Bureau Of Subconscious Activities gives chase.  Agent Green takes no grief from anyone, especially an outlaw like Flip!

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The Good – Slumberland

Marlow Barkley

The character of Nemo makes or breaks Slumberland, and Marlow Barkley gives this film everything it needs.

Despite Slumberland being only her 7th credited role listed on IMDb, Barkley gives a surprisingly nuanced and mature performance that carries the entire film on her shoulders.  She not only handles the character’s gender change without so much as a wink and a nod, she gives real depth and realism to an emotionally complex situation no child should have to face — the loss of a parent.

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We see an emotionally consistent performance that makes emotional sense for the character’s arc throughout the film.  It would’ve been easy for her to over or under-act at points in the film; or make character choices that contradict themselves or the story as a whole.

Instead of being overly simplistic with her performance and just being ‘sad’ or ‘angry’ the whole time; we see Nemo go through all the stages of grief.  We see an intelligent kid adjusting to a whole new life, but she’s still a kid.  And, the emotional support she needs from her Uncle, instead comes from the goat horns, fanged teeth, and beer gut of the Satyr in her dreams.

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The Visuals

While being rather expensive for a streaming movie, Slumberland’s $150 Million budget budget doesn’t guarantee amazing visuals.

Often, ‘straight to streaming’ means filmmakers and special effects houses put much less effort into the visuals. The finished film ‘only’ has to look good on a 50-inch T.V. screen, instead of a 50-foot tall theater screen.

But, Director Francis Lawrence makes sure the visuals for Slumberland exceed even those seen in his hit theatrical release Hunger Games movies.  Director Of Photography Jo Willems‘ Cinematography brings a dream-like and elevated reality feel to the film.  But, his work also fits seamlessly with the extensive CGI and Visual Effects seen throughout the film.

We get not only a well-lit and thoughtfully composed framing of his shots on set; we get an aesthetic that’s slightly ethereal, and somehow looks good with the Computer Generated characters and set extensions produced after the fact.

The visuals aren’t just ‘theater-worthy’, they let the viewer fully immerse themselves into the emotional journey Nemo must go on. The viewer can fully suspend disbelief for the full two hours of the film.

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The Review – Slumberland

Every technical aspect of Slumberland comes together perfectly. Slumberland tells an emotionally complex, but simple story; on a personal, yet epic scale.

Jason Momoa’s performance as the emotionally stunted and aloof mythical creature, fit’s in perfectly with a kid coming to terms with the loss of her only known parent.  Momoa’s turn as ‘Flip’ seems quite the departure from his usual hyper-masculine action movie persona.  Aquaman and Stargate: Atlantis, ‘Slumberland’ is not.

Interestingly, Momoa’s Flip doesn’t give an overly sensitive or emotional performance for Nemo to process her grief and mourning.  Instead, Flip’s indifference to her situation and rather ‘Beetlejuice’-like hedonistic self interest; forces Nemo not to dwell on her own loss.

Director Francis Lawrence tells Nemo’s story perfectly from her point of view.  She’s a kid on the verge of some rough teenage years. She’ll face emotions most people don’t have to face until well into adulthood.

And yet, Slumberland doesn’t feel like an adult’s vision of what it’s like for a kid to grieve the loss of a loved one.  It feels like this is how Nemo, at her age, would mourn and adapt.

Marlow Barkley’s performance is spot on, and seems very natural and consistent throughout the film.

The Cinematography and CGI/Visual Effects work hand in hand to produce a strong visual palette.  Which, in tern, let’s the viewer fully absorb Nemo’s story of heartache and moving on.

Solid Editing, musical score, and supporting cast also make this film stand out.

Slumberland’s pitch perfect tone works perfectly as a kids movie on a difficult subject, and includes just enough jokes that the adults watching will catch and make laugh.

A surprisingly deep and soulful family film that’s a much better visual experience than what we’re used to on Netflix.  Not quite a ‘can’t miss’, but a great film that most people who watch will probably revisit in years to come.

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