Dreams are incredibly powerful. Whether we experience them awake or asleep, our dreams shape our reality by imagining what could be. It may manifest in our minds as talking stuffies, personified num-nums, or twisted versions of those closest to us, but, all the same, our dreams help us to process who we are relative to who we want to be. It doesn’t matter if we’re children just beginning to investigate the world or if we’re coming to the end of our own story having explored as many corners as we can, our dreams (when we have them) will show us our strengths and point out our fears so that we can figure out how to utilize and overcome them. This is but a single aspect of the family adventure In Your Dreams, directed by Alex Woo (Go! Go! Cory Carson) and co-directed by Erik Benson (Toy Story Toons: Hawaiian Vacation) and written by Woo, coming to select theaters November 7th before releasing on the streamer November 14th. Mixing the surreal and hyperreal, In Your Dreams uses the maximalist possibilities of animation to entertain while exposing the raw nerve that exists within us all: the worry of being unable to meet the standards we set for ourselves.
L-R: Elliot voiced by Elias Janssen, Mom voiced by Cristin Milioti, and Stevie voiced by Jolie Hoang-Rappaport in IN YOUR DREAMS. Photo courtesy of Netflix. © Netflix 2025.
In the world of dreams, Stevie’s (voiced by Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) dreamlife is wonderful. It’s her and her parents in harmony, singing, dancing, and playing; until it’s disrupted by the arrival of her younger brother Elliot (voiced by Elias Janssen). Her waking life isn’t much different except she assumes far more responsibility, such as helping teacher Mom (voiced by Cristin Milioti) with grading and keeping Dad (voiced by Simu Liu) on task and Elliot on target with his school work — general first-born stuff. With all that responsibility comes worry about peace in the home, a peace disrupted by possible change that makes it difficult for Stevie to sleep at night. But with the discovery of a book whose words proclaim a magical fulfillment of one’s wish (and an accidental commencement of an incantation), Stevie and Elliot both find themselves in the land of dreams with Elliot’s stuffy Baloney Tony (voiced by Craig Robinson) as their guide and the only way to get to potential salvation is through their nightmares.
Stevie voiced by Jolie Hoang-Rappaport in IN YOUR DREAMS. Photo courtesy of Netflix. © Netflix 2025.
In Your Dreams is a family story, just not necessarily in the way you expect. More The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021) than Over the Moon (2020), Woo’s adventure focuses on the siblings in the story while never forgetting to incorporate the parents. This allows the film to get silly and zany, especially in the dream sequences, while maintaining a persistent grounding for both the characters and the narrative. The obvious bit about the film is that both Stevie and Elliott love each other, but they don’t quite get along. It’s clear that Woo, co-screenwriter Benson, and co-storywriter Stanley Moore (Go! Go! Cory Carson) either had a particular experience with siblings or have children themselves as the way that Elliott trails and pesters Stevie speaks to the ways in which younger siblings idolize their elders. It’s not always the case, but there are many instances in which the younger bases their decisions on what the older is doing in a very “monkey-see, monkey-do” way and, even when they break off to form their own identity, they crave the approval of the elder. Woo and Benson use this to accentuate the differences in the siblings with Elliott being more care-free, less burdened by the constraints for the household, whereas Stevie bears all the markings of a first-born, sliding into a third parent role instead of allowed to be a kid, thereby instilling a need to solve problems and maintain perfection at all times. These could be little more than stereotypes, general character tropes at best, but, as written and as enacted by Hoang-Rappaport (The Monkey King) and Janssen (Jane the Virgin), these siblings come across as entirely realized. They are not solely these tropes, characters destined to fight against their natures, but fully-fledged children caught in the roles that their parents have placed them in and as defined by each other. Through this adventure, not only do we see them become more than older sibling/younger sibling, they transform into whole persons identifiable by their own desires instead of those of others.
The use of dreams is a clever method to speed through some of the shedding of shields the characters possess to get to who they are (as well as who they think they are). Opting for an animated film, Woo and Benson have the freedom to get weird and wild without losing the plot and maintaining focus on the primary characters, the two kids. As shown in the trailer, the duo end up in a variety of situations, each one providing instances to get a sense of their respective psychology mixed in with the laughs. For instance, it says something about Stevie’s individual development that a nightmare for her is being naked, while Elliott doesn’t get the big deal. Nudity and the concept of shame or embarrassment is as much a developmental experience as it is a symptom of one’s environment, so, we may be laughing at Elliott’s total comfort, but the filmmakers are telling us how each child views themselves and how comfortable there are in their skin. Likewise, when Stevie sneaks a lick of the sausage dog that bounds to her feet in the breakfast village the two visit, the fact that she looks around first before doing so implies that Stevie possesses the ability to relax and let go, as long as she doesn’t think anyone will know. Thus the quest to have their dream granted by the Sandman (voiced by Omid Djalili) is, like all good stories, about more than one thing, the discovery of which is part of what makes In Your Dreams stand out from its family fare counterparts, encouraging discussion of topics that impact a great number of families as open communication is the first step to repairing any relationship gap.
L-R: Stevie voiced by Jolie Hoang-Rappaport, Elliot voiced by Elias Janssen, and Baloney Tony voiced by Craig Robinson in IN YOUR DREAMS. Photo courtesy of Netflix. © Netflix 2025.
To that end, Woo and Benson draw upon a number of references to create their adventure that will help older audiences clue-in to some parts of the narrative while keeping things a lovely surprise. Siblings experiencing strife requiring a journey to a magical realm — sounds like Labyrinth (1986). A gold-embellished book from which a transformative experience begins — sounds like The NeverEnding Story (1984). There’re plenty more references mixed in from the needle drops and other easter eggs to welcome parents and guardians into this adventure, though this isn’t all there is to it. The parents in the film are given their own significant storyline whose contributions uplift and help exemplify the significance of the message that the siblings receive, creating a story that’s kid-focused but doesn’t patronize in the process. Instead, the parents, especially though Liu (Barbie; Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) and Milioti’s (Palm Springs; The Penguin) respective performances, are more than background players (a la Over the Moon) in service of the children; rather, they have a narrative thread that powerfully demonstrates just how frequently parents forget to view themselves as individuals in a marriage and that their children are people, too, not just extensions of self (see: Mitchells v. Machines).
L-R: Stevie voiced by Jolie Hoang-Rappaport, Baloney Tony voiced by Craig Robinson, and Elliot voiced by Elias Janssen in IN YOUR DREAMS. Photo courtesy of Netflix. © Netflix 2025.
With heart, humor, and baloney, In Your Dream posits a world in which what we wish for is well-within our reach. The animation isn’t as evocative as Orion and the Dark (2024), nor is the narrative as imaginative, but it’s no less emotional or honest which paves the way for more than a few tears and plenty of unexpected moments. Just because one is in the world of dreams and nightmares wherein our own psyche is our friend and enemy doesn’t mean that our imagination can’t feel real, transporting the audience into places of their own mind and experiences as we journey alongside Stevie and Elliot amid their own self-discovery and personal realignment. What the filmmakers accomplish here is a poignantly funny and earnestly heartfelt family adventure in which those in need of being seen might discover the words to articulate that their dreams don’t have to be their only refuge — we can bring them home. Though, in my case, maybe with a little less bologna.
In select theaters November 7th, 2025.
Available on Netflix November 14th, 2025.
For more information, head to the official Netflix In Your Dreams webpage.
Final Score: 4 out of 5.
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Categories: In Theaters, Reviews, streaming
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