User Reviews

First of all: the actors are alright and the movie would be fine if it wasn't a book adaptation.

But: Apart from omitting important characters like Lottie or changing family backgrounds (in the book Liv and Mia's dad is very much alive, Greyson and Florence's mum is dead and very much not French) the filmmakers also changed the plot and didn't even include one of the lighthearted scenes like the cheese incident at the airport, the many names of Persephone and the snobby school etiquette.

Also: what the hell is the deal with the drugs and changing absolutely everyone's appearance?

Yes, diversity is great and they did a good job in creating a diverse cast. But: if a character is described as "being bald and having big ears" or having a haircut like duchess Camilla: why not do that? The ethnicity doesn't matter in that case.

Also changing the entire dynamic between the characters and the weird sub-plot lines are annoying while vital plot lines from the book are missing making the story way too confusing and fast paced. Really disappointed by this adaptation.

I've always been attracted to Fantasy and dream type films so I clicked on this. Prime Video has it listed as 16 ➕, but I don't think that it would be inappropriate for maybe 13 14 15 year olds. It depends because this film has the theme of moving in and out of Dreams and of some scary ideas but nothing bloody or sexual or excessive bad language. I found it to be entertaining but more of a typical teen theme that was easy to follow and very superficial overall. A lot of it was in German but it was predominantly in English. The protagonist Liv was not my favorite character - I'm a little old-fashioned and I tire of seeing girls nowadays trying to look as boyish as possible, and in particular also being the love attraction of a good looking young man seemed out of place. But what do I know about youth nowadays or in Germany. Liv is, by necessity, the idiot who almost falls into a trap yet the film does not otherwise paint her as such an imbecile to fall so easily for such a simple scheme. I'm not sure at all the point of the sister since she is just a prop that is used very occasionally and usually just to show the girls sleeping or passing in the hallway at school. In the end of the film they actually dress her up to look like a girl and then they throw a cliffhanger at us. So if this film is popular enough they're sure to be a sequel. As far as it being based on a book, I have not read the book so I don't know how close it is to the book itself but I would say they chose the wrong protagonist for a series. I think people will find her boring in personality and appearance.

To be fair, I loved the books and in general urban teen fantasy. So this is a recommendation particularly for those who read it or just love the genre.

The idea of wandering through people's dreams is fascinating to me and I enjoyed watching it, although it's not a one-to-one movie adaptation and the story of the books differ.

The initial concept stays the same though. And I think people should learn how to engage in a story, without comparing the whole time. It's not meant to be the exact same thing, especially since the author sold the rights to amazon prime. Still I could recognize the characters from the books, even though they were less profound and looked a bit different.

Story wise they made some changes, but not necessarily bad ones. The Idea with the Nightmares was not bad. And I liked that Liv's father died in the past. It added some depth to Liv's character and to her relationship with her sister. Unfortunately the other characters remained very superficial.

Everything that happens in the dreams looks really good and has a dark touch to it and overall the atmosphere's is consistent and exciting. But the movie feels rushed, because the plot extends only over a couple days, while in the book it's one school year.

I wanted to see more bonding between the characters, more depth in general for each character and more funny everyday-moments. Would have been cool to see how they evolve over the school year as a friend group, but also at home as a Patchwork-family.

I personally love seeing Books I read get an adaptation, it's always interesting what they do with it. This movie is like a shortversion of an idea that has way more potential.

So as a person who has read and loved the books, this is just a huge disappointment.

Visuals especially the dream sequences are top which is why I gave 2 instead of 1 star.

The actors' appearances were different from the books but still fine, however, their personalities were non-existent. The actors had no charisma at all and couldn't really show off their acting abilities which I believe some of them have.

There was no character, friendship and romance development because everything was rushed. The dialogues were poorly written and the plot got more and more ridiculous (e.g. Liv sedating Arthur during chemistry class in school and then herself and her breaking into a mental hospital) and boring. Half way through I didn't fully understand what they were aiming for anymore.

Bottom line: do not waste your time watching this even if you haven't read the books this is simply not worth it.

First of all i need to say movies inspired by books are difficult, which was shown by many many examples. This book in particular creates a comforting, cozy, vanilla-cookie setting with mystery and adventure where this particular movie tells a twisted creepy story by just using names and the general idea of the origin books.

The point of the four boys being blonde is to realize that jasper is fulfilling some cliches, and for Arthurs character to contrast everything which is implied by his like looks so he is not suspicious, etc. This is not about being exclusive about every non-blonde-person at all, but about looks being an important stylistic device used with meaning behind. Clearly some important scenes of the book are not represented enough because some dialogues don't make scenes due to simply change of haircolour. Also the doors present the characteristics of the owner, and were described in every detail by the author who invented all these characters and probably knows them best.

Going on about how Lotti is missing and Badass-Mia would need a whole new review.

In general I really don't understand why it was not possible to stick to all the wonderful and detailed descriptions of everything like characters, rooms, the corridors, the doors and the storyline. It seems not fair to use this title and change nearly everything. If something was not mentioned enough its okay to fill the gaps. If something is to heavy to include everything ot can be cut down to the most significant components. But why twist everything that already existed? It is disappointing.

It is important to say how the hired Actors are doing a nice job, that should be honored besides everything above.

If you don't have the budget to make a worthy book adaptation, then it's best to leave it alone.

Starting with the acting and the catastrophic casting (especially for Liv Silber!!!), to the storyline, poorly developed plot and characters. The whole film also seemed very rushed to me and was more like a "teenager's fever dream", as the viewer had no time to warm up to the plot and characters, the love story between Henry and Liv seemed stilted and unnatural.

One plot twist follows the next, and as a viewer you can't keep up. Everything is presented in a very dramatized yet superficial manner and therefore very implausible. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Persephone dies without the viewer even really realizing why... wtf?

And last but not least, the dialogues, which often made me feel embarrassed. What makes films like Harry Potter etc. So successful is the timeless appeal, well-crafted dialogue and no use of youth language. Unlike this movie, I'm afraid. The desperate attempt to adapt the film to a young audience and to come across as cool, backfired in my opinion.

Conclusion: Some books should remain books!

I'd rather watch all the Nightmare on Elm Street series if I want to watch a movie about bad dreams, although I guess you could call this movie a nightmare.

The movie never sets a pace. Its rushed from the start and then just a bunch of jumping from scene to scene. Just a bunch of scenes thrown together. There is no sequence to the movie. You don't learn how this dream club started or the purpose of it. It just jumps right into the characters forming this alliance. I hope the book was good because this is a total mess. I also hope I can last for the final 28 mins. I may go to sleep because my dreams are more interesting than this movie.

What's wrong with staying true to the book? I was looking forward to the book so much and am very disappointed that it's nothing like the book, especially the actors look so different than described in the book. It's ok if there are all kinds of people portrayed, but for example Persephone and Jasper are blond in the books. Liv's dad is alive, Persephone doesn't die and so on. If you are looking for and expecting this movie to be like the book you might be very disappointed.

Not to everything has to be adapted to how the world is and people are in real life. I don't like where this is going 😔 hopefully the next movies will be different.

This movie had so much potential with a great premise - yet it completely misses the mark.

The concept of lucid dreaming is that one has control in their dreams. Think INCEPTION. Think Nightmare on Elm Street Dream Warriors.

Other than turning around and jumping off of something, these characters spend more time running away from their nightmares than they do trying to control their dreams in anyway.

On occasion there are some great dream visuals that, had the script been better, might have helped to make this movie worthwhile. Sadly, they were not enough to prop this story up.

The story feels rushed. It seems that the script writers chose to move the story along quickly by providing zero character development and jumping right into the action. The end result is something that feels too predictable and falls into place in a too far-fetched or convenient way.

One example of far-fetched would be Silver choloroforming one of her classmates - IN CLASS and no one sees or says anything. This is just one of many examples.

The dialog is also weak, which in addition to a flagging story, portrays all of the characters as one dimensional.

To be fair, I think most of the cast does an admirable job trying to give great performances in spite of the poorly written script.

While the ending clearly was written to leave "the door" open for a sequel - let's hope they realize the error of their ways and do not put us through a second nightmare.

Hesitate going to bed after viewing this film, a pretty lucid film about a lucid dreamworld, ive actually not read the book, therefore im a maiden to silvers dreamtrips.

Productionwise this film is a marvel considering it being made far from hollywood and bollywood. Youre taken into the wildest of dreams and when you hardly notice the change when viewing its a darn good made movie.

The vfx and cgis are just amazing and really worth your ticket, and the story rolls like on steam. The dream alley is incredebly like my own nocturnal playground...

if, to critizise any, must be some glitches in the group dynamics by the developing talents by some of the main cast, also some lack of introduction to the broad storyline couldve helped, before pretty abrupt being thrown into the world of tangerine dreaming.

The remainder though is good and very recommendable thinks the grumpy old man.