In Your Dreams Review: I walked into In Your Dreams with zero expectations. Netflix animated movies are hit-or-miss for me; sometimes they land with real emotional weight (Klaus, Orion and the Dark), sometimes they feel like someone assembled an animation checklist and shipped it out.
But Alex Woo’s film surprised me. Not because it’s flashy or wildly original, but because it hits something we rarely talk about honestly:
The messy truth of growing up and accepting that life isn’t supposed to be perfect.
The movie follows Stevie and Elliot, a sister-brother duo who stumble onto a book that lets them share the same dream world. They use it the way most kids would: to escape. To dodge their family problems. To hide inside a fantasy where everything is soft and safe and nothing ever hurts.
And watching Stevie chase that “perfect world” hit harder than I expected.
Because we all do that, even as adults.
My Rating: 3.0/5
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Title | In Your Dreams |
| Release Year | 2025 |
| Platform | Netflix (Original Film) |
| Genre | Animated / Family / Fantasy / Adventure |
| Director | Alex Woo |
| Writers | Alex Woo & Writing Team |
| Main Characters | Stevie, Elliot |
| Key Voice Cast | Includes Simu Liu and others |
| Runtime | 1 hour 30 minutes |
My Personal Take (and Why In Your Dreams Got to Me More Than I Thought)
The opening stretch had me thinking,
“Okay, cute animation, emotional family setup… but I’ve seen this before.”
And then, somewhere between the weird dream creatures (yes, including the farting hot dog) and the hunt for the Sandman, the movie shifted into something more grounded. It wasn’t trying to preach. It wasn’t trying to be Pixar. It just told the truth:
You can’t skip the hard parts of life. You can only grow through them.
Stevie’s journey felt painfully real.
That desperate wish for an easy reality?
That fear of your family falling apart?
That urge to run instead of deal with the ugly stuff?
Yeah. Been there.
And the movie doesn’t sugarcoat it. It shows the fantasy for what it is, a temporary high that collapses the moment you try to live in it. Stevie wants a perfectly stitched-together world; instead, she learns that the cracks are what make her real.
It’s simple. But it works.
Good & Bad: In Your Dreams (2025)
| What Works | What Doesn’t |
|---|---|
| The emotional core — Stevie’s arc is honest and hits the right nerve. | Some dream-world humor feels like it’s trying too hard (looking at you, bologna monster). |
| Beautiful animation style; warm, expressive, and consistent with Netflix’s new visual identity. | A few scenes drag, especially in the middle. |
| A surprisingly grounded message adults will relate to. | The villain twist is predictable if you’ve seen any family movie in the last decade. |
| The sibling dynamic — it feels real, not Disney-fake. | Sandman’s character could’ve had more depth instead of “mysterious guy with rules.” |
Also Read: Now You See Me 3 Review: Grounded Magic, Real Heists, and the Movie Fans Wanted All Along
Why In Your Dreams Might Stay With You
What I appreciated most was how the movie handles emotion. It doesn’t force it. There’s a quiet sadness running through the whole story, Stevie trying to keep her family together, Elliot trying to understand her, and the dream world slowly crumbling the more she clings to it.
There’s one moment (you’ll know it when you see it) where Stevie finally accepts that the “perfect world” she’s been begging for doesn’t exist. And honestly?
It’s the kind of scene every kid should see, and every adult probably needs to.
Because the film is basically whispering,
“You don’t need perfection. You just need honesty, with yourself, with your family, with what hurts.”
And that’s a message a lot of grown-ups forget.
My Rating: 3.0/5
Not flawless. But heartfelt.
Not groundbreaking. But meaningful.
It’s the kind of movie you finish and think about afterward, not because of its plot twists, but because it pokes at something true.
If you liked Klaus, Orion and the Dark, or The Sea Beast, there’s a good chance this one will land for you.
