In Your Dreams: Older Sisters Proceed with Caution and a Box of Tissues
The movie is the perfect combination of a heartwarming, entertaining story, good animation, and the perfect soundtrack.
While dreams are a big part of the movie (title included), what stands out the most is the relationship between Stevie and her brother Elliot (Elias Janssen). As an older sister, this relationship touched a piece of my heart that only belongs to my two younger brothers. Being an older sister (particularly to boys) comes with an extra responsibility and an extra layer of care that not many get to experience in their lifetime. However, there is also something universal about the experience of being an older sister, and that is why this movie made me cry and think about my own life every step of the way.
As the oldest sibling, Stevie holds the responsibility of protecting her brother. A responsibility I understand all too well, even when it wasn’t verbally placed on me by my parents. The truth is that we see those younger siblings as an extension of who we are. They come into this world after us and change everything we thought we knew. As we get older, they become that annoyance outside our rooms (or in them, as Stevie deals with in the movie) and we wish they would disappear. But that wish is only fake, its words don’t mean anything because we know we couldn’t live without them.
Stevie spends her entire life silently protecting Elliot. We see this from the start when he wakes up with a nightmare, and she immediately turns on the sound turtle to get him to fall asleep again. It is there when she lets him sleep in her bed and when she hugs him as hard as she can as things turn dark in their shared dreams. And it is specifically there when she realizes Elliot makes her life better because he has always been there for her, which ultimately saves her life and brings her back to her family.
What will truly hit your heart and punch your gut while watching In Your Dreams is the symbolism carried between Stevie and Elliot as they hold hands. In the movie, the siblings hold hands because that is the only way they can get the power they need to beat Nightmara (Gia Carides). However, its significance is larger than a dynamite fist. The siblings can do anything when they hold hands because there is a power to the bond they share.
Even though having siblings is a universal experience, each sibling bond is different. Stevie and Elliot’s bond exists in the age difference and the annoyance that comes from it, but also in the strength they give each other to overcome the challenges. Elliot has been there for Stevie since he was a little boy because he also felt the need to protect and comfort his older sister. That is how Baloney Tony (Craig Robinson) came to be.
In the end, Stevie realizes that as much as she can use dreams to escape reality, she has to face it. But what comes out of this realization is the knowledge that she will never have to do it alone. She will always have someone on her side…or in her dreams.
Truthfully, Stevie and Elliot do what any kid of that age would do or wish they could do when faced with the reality that their parents might split up. We want to escape to a reality that was there before, the one that kept our parents happy and together, no matter what. We all wish we could find a Sandman (Omid Djalili) who would make our dreams come true. But that’s when relying on the siblings that you have is important. While not everyone has them, if you have them, you need to understand that you’re both going through the same thing (in your own way) and have each other’s backs…or go back to fight Nightmara to get them back.
In Your Dreams is the perfect combination of a heartwarming, entertaining story, good animation, and the perfect soundtrack. Every song is a perfectly shaped piece of the puzzle, making viewers feel the storyline deeper in their bones. Without it or with a different choice in music, the movie wouldn’t have had the same effect. And the same can be said for the way the animation changes when Stevie and Elliot are using their dynamite fist. It is a great transition between the monotonous moments of the movie to those that bring our attention back and hold us there.
While not everyone will feel the same about the movie, I can personally guarantee that if you are an older sister, this one will hit your heart. So, proceed with caution, bring a box of tissues, and dive into a world of dreams that might heal your inner child’s heart in a way you aren’t expecting it to.
In Your Dreams is now streaming on Netflix.
Photo courtesy of Netflix
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