Daniela Forever Parents Guide – Premier on July 11, 2025

Daniela Forever is Rated R by Motion Picture Rating (MPA) for some language.

Daniela Forever Review:

There’s Something grimly devastating about Daniela Forever.

It does not scream its greatness, it speaks it in the silence, in the manner that a memory slips up on you when you are least expecting it.

Right at the start of the film, you get the feeling that this is not another science fiction romance, but it definitely does not want to offer you a neat emotional curve. Rather, Nacho Vigalondo provides us with a crude, surrealist exploration of grief, memory, and the unattainable desire to experience love once again at the cost of living in a dream.

I approached this movie with the anticipation of a movie like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or Vanilla Sky, those existential love stories with a bit of a brainy bend. However, although very much of that cloth, But Daniela Forever has a very different emotional cadence. It is more personal, more pining. Not so much of forgetting, but a denial of letting go.

The Story & What It Tries to Say

The movie tells a story about Nicolas (Henry Golding), a once a DJ who is now existing in a shadow of his former self. We encounter him in a half-locked-down Madrid, a city that is still trying to deal with the emotional detritus of the pandemic, an apt analog to his own personal tragedy. Nicolas is barely getting by, as he is traumatized by the loss of his girlfriend Daniela (Beatrice Grann, who died six years ago in a car accident that blindsided their futures).

He is emotionally arrested in some sort of depressive cycle. And when he is presented the opportunity to participate in a sleep experiment that would enable him to lucid dream, visiting his past relationship with Daniela, he agrees without hesitation. It is sold as a kind of healing therapy, a grieving process. However, comfort soon turns into obsession.

He reinvents her not only her looks, but her voice, their habits, their sex. It is bright, descriptive, too good to be true. But the thing is that it is not actually her. It is what he thinks of her.

When the boundary between memory and imagination starts to get blurred, so does Nicolas hold on to the real. He begins to manipulate her character, alter the setting, even to censor their quarrels. At one point you come to the realization that he does not want Daniela back. He desires a tame version of her.

And that is the emotional heart of Daniela Forever, really: in the awkward acknowledgement that love, when driven by grief and imagination, can become possessive. It is not a romantic science fiction where a person goes against time to meet his/her soul mate. It is a moral fable on the perils of nostalgia, the lying allurement that we can re-write the past into something simpler. Vigalondo is posing tough questions here: Do we live in the past by keeping someone who has passed away or distort his memory? And when the one you love is the character in your mind, what you have is not love anymore, but control with a prettier name?

It is not a movie that spoon feeds its themes. It may be emotionally cold or even frustrating to some, as the dreams become more surreal and disjointed. However, I discovered that that was the point that grief is chaotic, non-linear, and self-centered. Daniela Forever embraces that awkward reality.

Performances & Characters

Henry Golding carries the film. His Nicolás is vulnerable yet complicit his sorrow palpable, his selfishness unnerving. Golding nails that tightrope: the desperate lover and the controlling dream-master. Beatrice Grannò, as Daniela, delivers a haunting dual performance: warm and alive in flashback, ethereal and stilted in dreams. She evolves from a reflection of longing into a voice of her own, cutting through his wishful haze. Aura Garrido’s Teresa is the hidden variable—her calm realism in the dream world cracks that perfect illusion. Together, they form a delicate emotional ecosystem that never feels hollow.

Direction, Visuals & Pacing

Vigalondo divides reality and dream through bold stylistic choices: gritty 4:3 Betamax-like footage for real life, shifting to lush wide-screen HD for dreams. It’s more than aesthetics—it’s shorthand for Nicolás’s mental state. The camera drifts in surreal sweep, then snaps into jittery contrast when reality bleeds in. Editing is deliberate; what starts slow simmers into a fever dream. Some may find the script’s swirl of exposition over-explicated but I felt it grounded the film’s metaphysical stakes, keeping the emotional anchor intact. Moments like dream-Daniela wandering into gray static are visually haunting they linger.

Core Themes & Emotional Tone

This is not your typical teen sci-fi date-night flick. It’s a slow-burn, atmospheric dive into grief and longing. The protagonist, Nicolás, uses cutting-edge lucid dreaming therapy to reconnect with his deceased girlfriend, Daniela. The plot twists lean on psychological tension rather than jump scares or flashy effects womenwriteaboutcomics.com.

Adults and mature teens should be prepared for a contemplative ride: it’s beautifully shot, but also emotionally tough. CineParenting suggests it’s best suited for ages 13–17 with parental guidance, noting the film’s mature themes of loss and emotional unraveling.

Daniela Forever Parents Guide – Premier on July 11, 2025

Language & Dialogue: Expect occasional strong language nothing relentless, but enough that the rating isn’t a false alarm. There are no slurs, but the emotional weight of certain lines may hit harder than typical

Violence, Scares & Disturbing Elements: This isn’t a horror movie—you won’t find graphic violence or gore here . What is intense is the emotional unease. You’ll witness Nicolás spiraling deeper into obsession. That mental breakdown, those surreal dream glitches—they’re more unsettling than anything you’d see in a Halloween thriller.

No Sex, No Nudity, No Drugs: According to CringeMDB, the film contains no sex scenes, nudity, or sexual violence. There’s no portrayals of drug use either. What you will see is intimacy in emotional dialogue and memories—not anything visually graphic or physical.

Recommended for: Families with older teens (15+), especially those whose teens are comfortable discussing deeper emotional experiences.

Conclusion

Daniela Forever is a beautiful, introspective journey with a distinct emotional gravity. It’s not for casual viewing or young children—but for older teens and adults ready to engage, it offers valuable honesty. It reminds us that grief isn’t linear, and memories can both comfort and trap us.

If you’re looking for a film that treats loss with nuance and invites real conversation, this one deserves a spot on the watch list. Just have tissues—or a box of empathy—on hand.

Highly Recommended: