In the Realms of the Unreal

In the Realms of the Unreal is a documentary about Henry Darger, a Chicago man who lived largely alone and worked low-paying jobs for most of his life. After he was moved to a hospital in his final days, the people clearing out his room found an enormous body of work he had kept hidden: a handwritten illustrated novel running to thousands of pages, along with hundreds of paintings. The story he told concerns the Vivian Girls, seven sisters who lead a rebellion against the enslavement of children, set within a conflict he called the Realms of the Unreal. The film examines both the man and the world he created in private.

Jessica Yu directed and wrote the documentary, her first feature-length film, made before Quiz Lady and A Very Jonas Christmas Movie. It combines interviews with neighbors who knew Darger only slightly, narration drawn from his writing, and images of his artwork, with Dakota Fanning among the voice cast alongside Larry Pine and others.

Released in 2004, the film runs 81 minutes and was produced by ITVS and Diorama Films in the United States. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.3 from around 2,300 votes, and on TMDB a rating of 7.2 from a much smaller pool of under fifty votes, indicating a modest but clearly positive response that has held steady over the years.