DANIEL ISN'T REAL (2019) Ending Explained

[Music] hey how's it going everybody welcome to found flicks on this innings plane we're looking at the very trippy daniel isn't real where we follow luke a troubled young man who after suffering a violent family trauma resurrects his childhood imaginary friend to help him cope the friend daniel helps luke to achieve his dreams and grow before pushing him into a desperate fight for his own soul the bad imaginary friend idea is almost its own sub-genre of horror films as the concept has been done several times previously but daniel isn't real stands out for putting its own very unique spin on things from a purely production standpoint it's extremely visually slick and the score provided by electronic artist clark is suitably moody and tense all that is great but the real core of the movie is the evolving dynamic of our two main characters luke and his imaginary friend daniel it's an extremely complex relationship that is constantly developing into new directions that really peels back the layers of who luke is and how much he in a way needs daniel of course this turns out to be a dangerous relationship and it's exciting to see how things play out our lead miles robbins as the twitchy brooding luke is good but the real delight here is patrick schwarzenegger yep arnold's kid that gives a standout performance then there's the ending that takes things into a very surprising direction of course the big question is all about is daniel real or not and the answer we get is definitely unexpected so let's dive into the many questions at hand and daniel isn't real breaking down the story as well as luke's important journey just what daniel is exactly and explaining the ending and what it means there's a mass of colorful swirling space clouds flashing lights of thunder are heard along with strange roaring in a cafe a barista is stinging to your customers seeming as though it's a normal day like any other that is until someone comes barging in with a gun and blows everyone away elsewhere little luke overhears his parents in a heated argument and based on what we overhear it sounds like his mom has some lingering mental health issues that have returned to the surface her husband wants her to get treatment but she flips out decrying doctors and smashes a bunch of stuff he takes a walk outside stumbling upon a crime scene and easily limbos under the tape barricade catching a glimpse of a dead body covered in blood out of nowhere another kid appears asking if he wants to play the two become fast friends playing make-believe together but his mom isn't so happy chiding him for running away starting to pull him away he asks if daniel can come along she doesn't know who that is and leans down to the heir inviting him to dinner they have a mighty battle using brooms in place of swords and do other silly little kid things like constructing his mom an origami tea set as she's been sad lately the kids are back to playing maple leaf but we now see their imagination come to life the brooms are now swords for real and the environment changes to resemble that of a castle stone walls mom comes in seeing he is indeed playing by himself meaning daniel isn't real or at least can't be seen by anyone else she carries him to a mirror and tries to convince him as well as herself that the two of them are gonna be just fine daniel comes up with a cool idea going right for the meds drawer luke asks what they are dance murking they'll give your mom super powers and pours them right into a smoothie whatever it was has made claire quite ill weakly calling for her son she painfully crawls into his room grunting his name and finds the pill bottle moaning why did you do this to me he immediately blames daniel and she's had enough no more daniel the plan is to lock him up in grandma's dollhouse handing over a key he tells daniel that he did something bad and screams over and over to get in inside the house lights flicker to life and daniel appears in the kind of other world version of the house banging at the door to get out luke puts the key in the lock as the banging continues and he somberly walks away that's the end of daniel at least for now we then pick up several years later with luke at college age sitting alone and scribbling in a notebook watching people from the roof of the building he calls his mom who is wondering when he'll come home to visit but tells him to not come home just because he doesn't like school maybe he just needs some friends his roommate shows off a picture of some girl him unsure if he wants to bang or worship her showing us that perhaps the pool of possible friends around here ain't exactly that enticing the apartment now looks much darker and there's papers plastered all over the walls and on the floors illustrating his mother's decaying frazzled mental state he finds her amongst more papers busy cutting words off of a page he inquires what it is she's working on and she stammers that sometimes the words speak to me the messages in the books well what about the mirror seeing that it's all scraped up and claire casually tells him that she didn't like what she saw insanely cackling whoa we're losing her luke goes out to a nightclub in search of some kind of connection standing off on the side by himself looking out of place it seems some girl across the room catches his attention and he makes his move approaching her amongst the strobing lights he starts getting overwhelmed in the strobes and collapses hearing strange voices and sees monsters in place of people standing over him causing him to wail in horror based on this incident alone it's clear that luke has some serious social anxiety he probably has since he was a kid but it has grown more severe over time with the doctor he reveals the true root of his concern that he is going to wind up becoming just like his mother but braun encourages that it's common for people to see things that aren't real and there are meds to help him out he inquires if he's seen things like this before and he does admit to having had an imaginary friend as a kid who he calls his only friend really so he's also incredibly lonely as well and that will of course take a toll on anyone's well-being luke beats himself up further calling his friendship with daniel pathetic but braun sees the potential benefits perhaps we should not be afraid of our imagination and in fact this could be a good opportunity to reconnect with that part of himself again walking absent-mindedly down the street he has a chance encounter with a girl on her skateboard causing her to crash she awkwardly apologizes and she's frustrated telling him sarcastically to have a lovely day while he collects his sandwiches unable to sleep he converses with his childhood stuffed animal and cannot handle the loneliness anymore he enters the other room seeing the dollhouse there he uncovers it after all these years noticing the lights are still on downstairs he digs through the desk drawers and finds the key in one allowing him to let daniel be free once more lucas later startled awake to the sound of glass shattering and sees his mom downstairs muttering and walking through the shards cutting her feet she stomps upstairs walking right by him and holes up in the bathroom she insists that she's fine but he doesn't agree busting the door down to get to her he finds her hands covered in blood shrieking i can't look at that face there's a third party in the room with them daniel there chilling in the tub he's back luke gives her a concerned glance and she fires back don't look at me like you're any different he tells her that she can't stay here anymore bringing the scissors to her throat daniel chimes in suggesting that he put the blade on his own let go or kill me he growls and she finally drops the scissors through tears they hug and luke promises to get her some help sitting amongst the broken glass daniel joins luke who admits to being surprised that he was even still around dan sighs well he needed his help and luke starts getting upset his pal tries to cheer him up doing a parachute opening mime thing that they did as kids cleaning up later daniel steps in with a broom blade hopeful to play like before but luke is focused on the reality and applying to law school dan is taken aback wondering what happened to him as a kid he was bursting with imagination luke shuts him down you know what happened there's a surprise visitor at the door skateboard girl cassie who it turns out accidentally has his wallet he tries to offer her a reward which he turns down however when daniel suggests that he stay insistent she finally gives in and takes the cash saying she'll think of him when buying some art supplies and dan tells him to say he's an artist too stammering that he does photography sometimes total lie apparently she notices the blood everywhere and he explains that his mom had an accident she callously asks what with a chainsaw and quickly apologizes asking if she's gonna be okay dan coaches him to act vulnerable which works aces getting invited to an art show opening hey maybe daniel's encouragement is all luke really needed after all but on the way there later luke is already getting overwhelmed dan assuring him that that was only because he wasn't there before he comes to cassie in the middle of a heated argument which dan tells him to try and defuse despite luke not feeling confident he almost gets a bottle in the face but she stops herself cassie complaining that the place is full of lame-ass posers she walks off asking him to tag along as she talks further she seems quite jaded saying all real artists are either dead or broke so she has to deal with these trust fund [ __ ] dan draws his attention to a particular painting and cassie opens up that it's her father luke gives it a compliment that she calls sweet dan knots for him to make a move but she pulls away and weirdly decides to destroy her entire art display luke gets out his camera to capture the moment thanks to dan's suggestion and the two band together to rip the whole thing to shreds dan gets excited at the destruction hopping up and down demanding more more more talking over things later luke is worried that he is unable to keep up with her while dan believes that he's been living in a mental prison he needs to get out and live he scoffs are you here to just give me pep talks dan clarifying i'm here because of you he laughs calling himself insane but dan thinks he's not insane rather he's truly awake their friendship grows stronger and it really does seem like dan is helping luke in his life and issues in a lot of ways in class he appears stressed out taking a test but luckily dan steps out and removes his shirt revealing the answers he needs written all over his body they play a prank on his roommate richard waking him up with a mask that freaks him out good the reactions sending the boys into fits of giggles they show up to another party but unlike before luke has dan as backup already boasting that he can get any girl's number in here and with a few cyrano-esque lines from dan luke is able to have some monochrome of game and easily wins the girls sophie's number however there's already a slight derangement to dan's demeanor kind of pushing things to excess and commands luke to keep drinking despite him already being wasted he ultimately elects to [ __ ] it and drinks even more leading to some heavy petting with sophie on the couch dan watching on with a blank stare of satisfaction i did this after tossing his cookies luke plunges into a liquor fueled slumber dan tries to poke him to no response so he takes advantage of his moment of weakness he takes luke's hand grabbing a straight razor with it and puts it right up to his throat dan says in a weird voice drop it or kill me mommy luke comes too before anything can happen even dan looking a bit confused by what just happened the influence of dan and how it has changed luke is clear he even compliments him on his newfound passion for photography and luke describes himself as just trying to connect with people you know empathy and stuff he goes out with cassie and they randomly break into a school and rifle through the library thanks to dan's assistance he's able to look like he knows all the books verbatim as he's actually reading over cassie's shoulder she can't help but be impressed calling him a super brain when they turn to the bible dan does a fiery quote from exodus but luke doesn't follow his direction this time reciting a dirty limerick instead dan only gets more animated getting right in luke's face spitting there is no other god before me cassie can seem to sense there is something different about luke saying he seems like he always has an inside joke going in his head all the time he shows off his photos to her and she reveals that he is the inspiration to her latest work saying that he deserves to be immortalized dan feeling left out corrects we deserve to be immortalized the work is complete and luke is struck by something she put in the background this sort of resembles horns or antlers of some kind she refers to it as his shadow something full of danger and mystery though she can't actually see dan like he does they think sometimes maybe being crazy isn't so bad leading right into them hopping in bed together again then watching the whole thing unfold with a glazed lifeless demeanor well it might appear so far daniel has been helping luke his more sinister destructive nature starts soon rearing its head sophie and a friend unexpectedly show up right at a party sophie calling luke a freak to his confusion turns out that she and dan have been texting which implies there are times when maybe luke is asleep that dan is in the driver's seat so to speak luke is uncomfortable with the whole situation but dan encourages him these are your friends now and this is what you do seeing no other option they do some wines and drink while richard rambles on about the upcoming apocalypse and we see dan is not a fan of this guy richard also has the bright idea to wander around a bunch of tunnels under the campus and sophie and luke break off on their own she pointedly asks if he ever feels like he's hiding his true self making a new identity to cover who you are he smirks i guess he does have a voice in his head that tells him to do things that darkness seems to be enticing to her calling it what she sees as his animalistic side and goes to make a move but he rebuffs her dan is annoyed thinking that it must be guilt over cassie and luke asked for a second dan confronts him with a worrisome proposition it's not cheating if it's me asking to take over completely before he even gets a chance to answer dan puts his hands on his neck and his face starts melting off and a bunch of flesh tendrils the two fuse together and assumedly switch places with dan now in control probably what he's really wanted the whole time the change is immediately obvious luke going for a line and right into getting down with sophie luke this time watches on unable to do anything as dan in his body keeps plowing away he does try to reach a handout to attempt to do anything as he gets closer his hand snaps off disturbingly the deed done sophie shows off a picture of him telling him that he looks good but dan is perturbed seeing that it is still luke's face not his own with very bad timing richard comes stumbling in and since dan doesn't like him unleashes his rage upon him beating him up and burning his face on a pipe sophie stops to mayhem with a lawn chair to the back wondering what the hell is wrong with him this all leads to some very real consequences as luke is kicked out of school but dan argues in fact that he has freed him now all luke wants is to be rid of his friend but it's not that simple dan only laughing when he tries to count down from three to make him go away so he attempts to get him to go back into the dollhouse but dan is unbothered chiding he can't put him in there because he's crazy dan assumes his mom's voice all of your delusions he says brandishing her infamous scissors from earlier so he visits his mom at the care facility in hopes of answers mentioning that she was put in the same room she had before it sounds like these issues have plagued her most of her life even detailing a time in college when she tried to burn down a radio station because she was convinced that the djs were making fun of her he presses her if she knew that he might suffer similar problems as her but she's adamant that she did not she always hoped whatever happened was due to his father leaving so again he didn't really have any problems before that happened and daniel first came into his life these revelations cut to luke's core and he begins shaking she tries to call for help and orderlies instead drag her away and well looks like he's on his own to figure this thing out well not exactly alone as daniel is always there behind him just like a shadow as cassie said he does what he can to try and put his life back together but it doesn't go so well he attempts to apologize to sophie which ends with him getting pepper sprayed not good and with dr braun he takes him to task that he must take responsibility for what he did as daniel is a part of his mind at this point he is convinced he is full-blown schizophrenic and daniel is a product of his troubled mind luke cries to the dock that he's just like his mother but daniel disagrees he's something much more interesting again when passed out dan makes another move opening his mouth and peering inside he wakes up shouting at others in the library to leave him alone everyone's staring on aghast and confused luke gets some prescription meds which dan warns him not to take or risks saying goodbye to your photos and your women undeterred he takes the pill right away and dan starts choking tumbling to the floor dramatically and is suddenly motionless luke cautiously reaches out to touch him and dan snaps up appearing behind him laughing about the shocked look on his face not gonna be that easy boya we're back at the swirling cosmos spliced with haunting imagery and then see a newspaper headline come into focus regarding that opening coffee shop shooting learning that the gunman was killed in a standoff with police luke awakening from the nightmare perhaps there was some kind of connection here and amongst his mom's mini papers uncovers the same news article daniel beaming that was quite a spectacle all that blood he's able to track down the kid john's father thinking that he must be similar in some way to luke his dad fills him in on the boy's troubled history they did try to help him and got him medicated yet it only worked temporarily the only thing that ever seemed to calm him down were his drawings offering luke to see them himself as soon as he leaves the room percy goes right to phone the police one drawing features two people one on top of a rocky structure with lines again like horns coming out of his head he asked if jon ever heard voices or anything his dad's suggesting to take a moment but he expresses his concern that what happened to his son is now happening to him he has more disturbing and illuminating pictures a dark figure and another playing swords just like dan and luke did and one guy with a shadow guy behind him luke puts the connection together the same guy on the castle must have been daniel meaning they both had him as a friend at some point dan tries to get him moving you know the cops are on their way and luke realizes that he was with jon until he was with him right so now we understand daniel is not truly an imaginary friend but more like a sinister demonic force this is what led john to the coffee shop shootout and when he died as a result daniel went in search of a new friend landing on luke who happened to be by the bloody crime scene that's what we saw happen earlier he tries to explain everything to cassie who is surprisingly even willing to listen to him at this point but his crazed ramblings about being worried about killing people is definitely freaking her out he brings up the shadow from the drawing that she made but she describes it as just being a metaphor a darkness that we all have this causes him to lose it flinging a table and she screeches for him to get out pushing him out of her place there's only one person left to turn to his doctor who agrees to meet him at his mother's apartment daniel already telling him he'll regret this luke complains that the pills don't work and the doc fills him in there are other approaches they can try he explains how a mind tends to reflect one's own environment and this was his world when this all started so he wants to hear what this daniel has to say utilizing a tibetan singing bowl and a dagger to pierce illusions he decides to hypnotize them both in an attempt to engage with this delusion asking if he's here luke says of course he's always here telling him all kinds of nasty stuff he clangs on the cup and begins their session fear and loneliness are some of the most powerful emotions humans can experience these can grow inside until they rule our every thought although the mind will do anything to avoid confronting just how alone it is in the universe while that definitely sounds like a lot of what luke is going through plus the demon guy he first speaks to luke asking him to follow the sound of his voice then turns his attention to daniel directly luke beginning to groan and writhe when he does he keeps trying and trying luke convulsing and his eyes darting surprisingly it works and after saying he wants to talk daniel appears right next to him asking about what and dan confronts what the doctor suspected about luke he's weak lonely and nothing without me the doc can for sure see him wanting to know just who he is dan refers to himself as a traveler searching for a home sounds like he wants a body and it seems that he's found what he's looking for prying luke's mouth open warning this is gonna be painful and really starts stretching his face out he carves a gaping hole into his torso big enough for him to crawl right inside of all snug and sound in his new meat suit the change in demeanor is immediately obvious luke really daniel looking back to the dock with a playful stare he tells the doctor that he's feeling better now and lunges and after a brief struggle he gets him with a knife luco's absolutely batshit stabbing repeatedly and demented glee other luke wakes up a cast did that really happen afraid somebody and even more alarmingly this luke the real luke has found himself at that gate between worlds represented by the dollhouse he comes to a mirror seeing the horned creature around the corner which must be daniel's true form he sees it in the mirror and it gets closer croaking eye and the abyss it repeatedly commands for him to get in a single tear is streaming down luke's face and he doesn't utter a word just as luke did when they were kids daniel has done a classic switcheroo here and now it's luke that is trapped in the house man you got tricked good and this must have been daniel's real intent the entire time to get a body of his own he kept trying to get at him over and over like when he was passed out drunk and stuff but since he was hypnotized he had a full chance to finally get him daniel quickly embraces his new body and throws out luke's own life getting rid of his pills and stomping all over his precious photographs he gives himself a full daniel style makeover oh yeah that slicks back real nice and practices a devilish looking smile in the mirror you can tell he's really excited doing a little kick twirl on the way out of the suit store i don't know anyone else getting some bully mcguire vibes over here the idea is kind of the same when you think about it he of course next pays cassie a visit trying to convince her that he's doing better now once again kind of shocked she even let him in at this point but she understands that he is struggling and can't get rid of his shadow daniel thinks otherwise we should not get rid of our shadows in fact they should rule again clearly his whole thing here just in fact something is off reaching for a box cutter while luke fumbles his way around the otherworldly castle another creature is there with a thorny face and chases after him but shouts for him to wait so maybe it actually isn't trying to kill him he makes his way to a kind of display room seeing things amongst the items like medieval looking helmets a dagger with fresh blood probably the one used on braun and some good old-fashioned firearms including a shotgun that must have belonged to josh i'm assuming this is daniel the creatures kind of trophy room tied to various lives that he's claimed over the years the massive scary painting featuring him eating a dude seems to back all this up daniel loses his cool veneer with cassie deciding he's had enough of this facade he reaches out his face and starts peeling it off like plato rearranging it into daniel's in the other house the phone starts to ring and luke can hear cassie screaming in terror here we see a substantial change in luke's personality knowing cassie is in danger he finally is able to have the motivation that he needs to be proactive on his own without daniel importantly when coming to another locked door he's able to actually construct a key in his hand the moment of triumph is quickly dash though as on the other side of the door is only a brick wall another dead end he spins back to thorn face there snarling and luke reactively stabs him he realizes this was a mistake and that it was actually john thingpin the coffee shop killer kid sounds like daniel must have pulled the same trick on jon as he did with luke and was able to take over his body in the real world must be where the whole massacre at the coffee shop comes in as daniel himself says he preys on weak and lonely people this makes it easier to play the friend slash mentor role because a lot of times that's all anyone needs just another voice of support you know which makes it pretty much a cakewalk for daniel to manipulate them into getting whatever he wants pretty evil dude so john wound up here trapped as daniel took his body and even when he died he's still stuck in the castle sucks too that you also get turned into a monster over time what is that all about he wants to know what's outside the castle and jon groans the abyss before bleeding out he starts pulling away at the bricks and removes enough to make his way through he comes out on the outside of the structure and right over the side is that same cosmic abyss looming below this must be the connection point between these two worlds as luke is able to actually hear cassie yelling out for him through it hopeful that he's still in there he catches his breath and takes a leap of faith right into the swirling colors it does work and luke makes it back to our world finding dan has cassie trapped on the rooftop luke sees that he's a parasite but dan connors he's been helping people for hundreds of years but no one appreciates it you're the parasite he cries cassie makes a break for it and when dan turns away luke launches a pole that goes right through him the two grab brooms that turn into swords hearkening back to their childhood imagination days and it's time for a rooftop showdown between the two though it is a bit one-sided dan quickly takes control and blocks every one of luke's attacks they get their blades intertwined and dan overpowers luke slashing him in the shoulder luke pushes him off and keeps weakly keeping him at bay dan puts an end to it butting him with the back of his blade repeatedly luke boldly declares if you go i go but dan doesn't think he's strong enough luke grabs him and leaps off the building seeing them as kids and their broom hitting the ground luke crashes into the ground leaving him in a bloody heap on the concrete but it was a heroic sacrifice at least stop daniel from killing more people and wasn't that kind of the whole point that he was too much of a wiener to do anything well look at what he did now all by himself hey pretty impressive actually sorry about dying cassie rushes to his side but has to accept that he's already gone lying sullenly on her back on the concrete as for daniel he's back in his weird castle looking kinda pissed the lights flicker over his face catching glimpses of his true form which takes over permanently he steps outside staring off into the abyss and leaps things in here and the assumption is that daniel is able to come into the real world in his true form which is a frightening thought but i gotta wonder why didn't he try that before seems a lot easier than the whole trick people that had taken their bodies and trapping them in the castle thing you know what i mean maybe he didn't know we could just jump through the abyss until luke did or maybe he's just really pissed off less interested in trickery but now just wants to spread some evil with that we have reached the conclusion of this inning explained for daniel isn't real don't forget before we go you can send me requests for any movies or tv shows you'd like to see me explain by sending them my way on any of my social media accounts at foundflix what did you guys think of daniel isn't real and it's ending what's your interpretation of what goes down let me know your thoughts in the comments below make sure to like subscribe and follow thanks for watching found flicks see you next time

Channel: FoundFlix

Views: 723,181

Keywords: daniel isnt real, daniel isnt real explained, ending explained, ending, explained, what is daniel, daniel monster, imaginary friend, trailer, clip, final scene, end scene, meaning, daniel, explanation, foundflix ending explained, foundflix

Id: YcKvtH2oJr0

Length: 26min 29sec (1589 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 19 2022