The Intensity Of Indie Horror In DANIEL ISN’T REAL: Interview With Director Adam Egypt Mortimer

There’s a special quality hidden in the fabric of independent movies. More often than not, the filmmakers attempt to make something unique, stories that we see with rarity or settings which haven’t been explored. This does not mean they’re always successful, but you can see the effort, and that effort has value.

One prime example of an independent film swinging for the fences is Daniel Isn’t Real, a horror-thriller written and directed by Adam Egypt Mortimer with his sophomore effort. Mortimer adapted the story from a novel by Brian DeLeeuw titled In This Way I Was Saved.

A Speedy, Shocking Story and Visuals

Mortimer’s film depicts a college-aged man named Luke (Miles Robbins) who struggles to overcome his imaginary friend Daniel (Patrick Schwarzenegger), who comes back into his life during a violent fight with his mother. Daniel represents Luke’s dark side, his extreme c*ckiness and sometimes rage-filled tendencies.

As Luke starts new relationships, learns more about his mom and their shared past, and loses control of his emotions, Daniel pops up more and more. Mortimer explores the depths and difficulties of childhood trauma, as Luke witnessed brutality as a kid. The director conveys a feeling of terror while portraying the effects inner demons can have on an impressionable person.

The story zips along, and the horror creeps up on you, as Daniel suddenly takes over Luke’s body, making rash and savage decisions. The switching of bodies terrifies you and Daniel’s maniac nature shocks you into not being able to look away. In this regard, Schwarzenegger displays his acting chops, specifically in the thriller genre.

Robbins puts together a solid performance in the title role, with the supporting cast elevating it from a campy indie film to a truly horrific thriller. Robbins looks to be in control or absolutely scared-to-the-bones, and his facial expressions themselves deserve recognition.

The visuals stun and wow you, and though not every cosmic reference works, Mortimer earns an A for effort. Daniel Isn’t Real begs you to keep watching, keeping your attention the entire time, a rare feat for an upcoming filmmaker.

Minimal Details and Background

Mortimer’s film explores some high concept ideals, and attempts to accurately portray an inner struggle. The film’s effectiveness wavers from scene to scene, and it all becomes too over-the-top at moments. Some imagery feels unnecessary and forced, while some visuals are not strong enough to merit the screen-time. A bigger budget would have likely fixed those issues, though.

We also are not given nearly enough background on Luke and his childhood experiences that led to this reckoning. We want more information, more insight on how this imaginary friend of Daniel came to dominate his life. We don’t see life without Daniel for much time, and it would have been great to compare the two phases of life: before and after Daniel.

Mortimer does not explain the nature of Daniel, and the vague aura surrounding the imaginary friends never gets resolved. Though there is some sort of reasoning, it confuses you and leaves you wishing you knew more about this supernatural presence and the powers connected to it.

The film leaves you with more questions than answers, and for an indie flick, that is not the ideal place to end.

The Value of Indie Horror

Daniel Isn’t Real shows immense value in the realm of realistic horror films focusing on mental health and childhood trauma. Mortimer creates a world that parallels realities we’ve seen in our own lives or at the minimum, we’ve heard in stories.

The acting and visuals warrant a watch, and Mortimer should be viewed as a filmmaker to watch moving forward. Indie horror is hard to pull off, yet Mortimer does more than an adequate job in his effort to adapt this difficult story.

Give it a watch.

Interview With Adam Egypt Mortimer

This interview has been edited for length.

Michael Frank for Film Inquiry: How did this idea come about and how did you start planning to make this happen?

Adam Egypt Mortimer: Well, I first got the idea because I read the novel it was based on. Initially, what was so amazing about it was that it had a Pan’s Labyrinth vibe. It was these kids and they were in this imaginary world. And then as I worked through it, I was like what’s awesome about this is that it’s a completely external and visual way of telling a story about how we face our inner demons, how we fight ourselves in this struggle for our identity. It’s such a cerebral and internal theme, but when presented in this way, you split a character’s mind into different parts, and it’s such a cinematic way of doing something psychological. I got really excited about how cinematic and meaningful that could be.

That’s interesting. You know, it’s been a big year for movies trying to tackle mental health. Do you mind talking about how you were trying to talk about mental health?

Adam Egypt Mortimer: Well, I was trying to be authentic to the experience of it. I witnessed this exact same kind of mental breakdown when I was the same age as the characters. Once we designed what the story of the movie was going to be, when I was thinking through the feeling of the movie and how it progressed from isolation to depression into this kind of manic ride to paranoia and schizophrenic vibes into ultimately this cosmic horror confrontation. What I’m really referencing is what that authentic experience is like. When I was that age, I sort of went through that in the sense as my best friend at the time went through that. I was along that ride with him. From not realizing what was going on to bringing him to a mental hospital. I wanted to be sure I was being true to that experience. What’s been really gratifying when I’m showing it at film festivals, people will be coming up to me and saying I had an experience like that. That’s the most satisfying part of having done this.

That might have been the thing that struck me the most. I really did appreciate that.

Adam Egypt Mortimer: That’s really my interest in genre movies. I love genres and all the crazy ideas you can bring into it. But to make them good movies and when I think about the ones that I love, they very much seem to be based off some personal experience and very much something we can relate to in the real world, even if the movie itself has monsters and other crazy things in it. That’s really what I’m looking for in movies that I like and what I’m trying to make.

Did you grow up liking those types of movies? More surrealistic and horror movies?

Adam Egypt Mortimer: It’s funny. I’ve been looking back on it and one of the movies that was so important to me that really ruined my life and blew my mind was Pink Floyd – The Wall. And that was a movie that was such a great movie and we don’t totally think of it as a movie, we think of it as a side project of a band, but the movie of it was an interesting exploration of isolation and loneliness and insanity and hallucinations and what part of it is real and what isn’t. It’s funny because I hadn’t seen it for a long time but right after I got home from shooting Daniel Isn’t Real, there was a screening of it. And I went to see it and was like holy shit, I didn’t even realize how much imagery from this movie I had been using. There’s a part of Daniel at the end when he opens a door and there’s a brick wall behind it. In some ways, I think that a lot of the movies that really made an impression on me as a kid were very traumatic type films. I think that’s something that I dig about horror. I grew up on A Nightmare on Elm Street and my mom knit me a Freddy Kruger sweater when I was a kid. The first one is scary, but fun. When I started watching French horror movies, I was like oh movies can f*ck you up in the same way that Ingmar Bergman movies can.

What are you hoping to explore something similar soon? Or what are you looking towards in the future?

Adam Egypt Mortimer: Oh what am I doing next? I’m starting to shoot a movie in two weeks. It’s going to be my weird gritty version of a superhero movie. It’s kind of like if Leaving Las Vegas meets Superman. And it’s gonna explore some similar themes, and the feeling of personal brokenness and how that connects to huge cosmic ideas. That’s gonna be the connection.

What’s your favorite film this year?

Adam Egypt Mortimer: Ah man. I really liked Knives and Skin by Jennifer Reeder. That was such an interesting and amazing movie. And I really liked Greener Grass. It’s a movie I’ve seen two times already. And High Life, the Claire Denis movie. It was so rad. Totally insane. I saw it in the theater and was like what is even happening right now.

Do you have time to go watch movies? What do you like doing outside of film?

Adam Egypt Mortimer: Watching movies man. The last seven months all I’ve been doing is traveling with this movie. It’s been an amazing experience. I’ve really tried to commit to going every place the film is going and interacting with people who are seeing it.

Do you always watch it at the screenings?

Adam Egypt Mortimer: Not always no. I find that to be a very anxious experience. I’ve definitely sat with the audience seven or eight times at least. Because every time… they played it in London and they showed it on an IMAX screen and i had to see it. And then we played it at BeyondFest at the Egyptian Theater in LA and oh my god I had to see it.

Why is it an anxious experience?

Adam Egypt Mortimer: It’s a tough experience because of the movies doesn’t have a ton of reaction points, like jump scares or places where people scream. You can’t quite tell from the vibe while you’re watching it. And then when it’s over, people are like oh my god I was so stressed out. But you can’t quite tell that in the room. Every time you hear somebody cough, it’s like oh my god my career is over, I’ve made a boring movie. I mean, that’s just my general disposition..

Film Inquiry would like to thank Adam Egypt Mortimer for taking the time to speak with us!

Daniel Isn’t Real will be released in theaters, on demand and digital December 6.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4zOUxHxhXM