(L to R) Alex Woo, Cristin Milioti, and Simu Liu attend Netflix’s ‘In Your Dreams’ premiere on October 28, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix.
‘In Your Dreams’ follows Stevie (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) and her brother Elliot (Elias Janssen) as they journey into the absurd landscape of their own dreams in order to find the Sandman, who they believe will grant them their ultimate dream come true… the perfect family. Moviefone was in attendance at a press conference for the animated film, which featured director/writer Alex Woo, and stars Simu Liu, Cristin Milioti, and Craig Robinson.
“The adventure of a nighttime.”
Release Date: Nov 7, 2025
Run Time: 1 hr 31 min
Related Article: Netflix’s ‘In Your Dreams’ Sneak Peek With Alex Woo And Craig Robinson
1) Simu Liu Says His Character Is Just A Big Kid At Heart
Simu Liu attends Netflix’s ‘In Your Dreams’ premiere on October 28, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix.
When asked about taking inspiration from any of the dads in his life, Simu Liu admits that he did not, at least not consciously. However, he was very inspired by the fact that his character is just a big kid at heart.
Simu Liu: In approaching this character of Dad, it’s funny, because Dad in this film, he is actually such a kid on the inside. And so much so that I almost feel like he’s like actively resisting this idea of growing up. Because he’s very passionate about his music career. I think he’s at a place where he doesn’t want to let it go. He’s being faced with this pressure to kind of be realistic and face reality and accept responsibility for the whole family. I think for him, it’s like, well, if I give up on my dreams, what kind of example am I setting for the kids? That’s where I approached from. Where Dad is actually not very dad-like at all. I really wanted to bring out his child-like quality.
2) Cristin Milioti Says The Process Of Making An Animated Film Is Extremely Interesting
Cristin Milioti attends Netflix’s ‘In Your Dreams’ premiere on October 28, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix.
Cristin Milioti recalls the process of recording for the voice of Mom in ‘In Your Dreams’, saying that it is very different than working on a live-action project.
Cristin Milioti: The way an animated film is made, it’s so many years. And it’s such an interesting process. You record something and then you don’t return to it for four or five months. You have to like get back into that mind frame of how did we calibrate it? Oh, we went to a seven last time, this should be at a five now. It’s constantly changing. Which is so cool and so rare. You would never get to do that, obviously, on a live action thing. The rewarding part, I feel like is hopefully, any kids or adults that are dealing with like a nuanced situation at home feel comforted as well as entertained.
3) Craig Robinson Loved Bringing Humor and Heart To Baloney Tony
Craig Robinson attends Netflix’s ‘In Your Dreams’ premiere on October 28, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix.
Baloney Tony is Elliot’s stuffed giraffe and while he does not appear in the movie a lot, he is the heart of the story. Craig Robinson reveals that he had a lot of fun bringing both sides to Baloney Tony, but admits that the heart came as a surprise.
Craig Robinson: It came as a surprise. I did not know. We found everything in the room. It’s good to hear that that’s what came across, but no, I didn’t go in thinking, oh man, yeah, I gotta bring that heart. We just kind of rolled it out there.
4) Alex Woo Channeled A Very Personal Story When Writing ‘In Your Dreams’
Alex Woo attends Netflix’s ‘In Your Dreams’ premiere on October 28, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix.
Alex Woo: The challenge with a movie about dreams is that anything can happen. And when anything can happen nothing really means anything. So, we had to find a way to ground it with a real-world, human story. And that’s when I thought about this thing that happened to me when I was maybe six or seven years old. I woke up one morning and I found my mom at the front door with her bags packed. She had to sort of gently explain to me and my brother that she was going away for a little while. And she had to figure things out for herself and her family. It was really scary for us. This movie is very much about me reconciling and dealing with the fact that life is not perfect. And that there’s a lot of messiness in life. But there’s also a beauty in that. So, it’s a combination of this really intimate, personal story with this big, adventurous, fantastical, spectacular world of dreams.
5) Simu Liu Reveals That A Lot Of Things Changed From When He First Signed On
(L to R) Craig Robinson and Simu Liu attend Netflix’s ‘In Your Dreams’ premiere on October 28, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix.
‘In Your Dreams’ went through a lot of changes, even after Simu Liu started recording his lines. He admits that even the ending changed, and more than once.
Simu Liu: We signed on four years ago. And then we come in and we’re not recording our lines with anybody. The lines are changing. The scenes are changing. The ending of this movie changed, at least for us, at least four or five times over the course of the entire process. I think our names changed. Our band name changed. Our kids didn’t change, though. Our kids were always amazing.
‘In Your Dreams’ will be available on November 14th. Photo: Netflix © 2025.
What’s the story of ‘In Your Dreams’?
Stevie and her brother Elliot journey into the absurd landscape of their own dreams, and if the siblings can withstand a snarky stuffed giraffe, zombie breakfast foods, and the queen of nightmares, the Sandman will grant them their ultimate dream come true… The perfect family.
Who is in the cast of ‘In Your Dreams’?
- Jolie Hoang-Rappaport as Stevie
- Elias Janssen as Elliot
- Craig Robinson as Baloney Tony
- Simu Liu as Dad
- Cristin Milioti as Mom
- Gia Carides as Nightmara
A scene from ‘In Your Dreams’. Photo: Netflix © 2025.
