Daniel Isn't Real

Luke Nightingale is a college freshman struggling with mental health issues and the weight of a troubled family history. As a child, lonely and shaken by his parents' constant fighting, he invented an imaginary friend named Daniel. Years later, after a therapist encourages him to let Daniel back into his life, the charismatic figure returns and pushes Luke toward the things he has wanted, before his influence begins to blur the line between ambition and losing control.

Daniel Isn't Real was released in 2019 and runs 101 minutes. Adam Egypt Mortimer directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Brian DeLeeuw; it is the second of the four features he has directed, between Holidays and Archenemy. Miles Robbins plays Luke, with Patrick Schwarzenegger as Daniel, Sasha Lane as Cassie, Mary Stuart Masterson as Claire, Hannah Marks as Sophie and Chukwudi Iwuji as Dr. Cornelius Braun. Elijah Wood, Josh C. Waller and Daniel Noah produced.

The film holds a 6 out of 10 on IMDb from around 12,000 votes and a 6.1 out of 10 on TMDB from roughly 250 votes. A critics' rating of 7.1 out of 10 from 81 reviews places it noticeably above the audience scores, a wider gap than most horror releases see.