Slumberland ending explained: Does Nemo meet her father?

Netflix’s ‘Slumberland’ is a children’s fantasy film that follows a young girl named Nemo, who loses her father. She then moves in with her dull uncle and travels to the titular world of dreams at night. The film is based on the comic strip, ‘Little Nemo in Slumberland’, by Winsor McCay.

Plot summary

Slumberland opens with Nemo and her dad, Peter, living in a lighthouse, where the latter works as the caretaker. Nemo is homeschooled, learning how to survive in the wild and operate the lighthouse.

The father often tells Nemo stories about his adventures with an imaginary friend named Flip. Their life is good but things go bad as Peter is forced to sail out during a storm to assist a ship.

This has happened several times before so Nemo isn’t worried. Unfortunately, the worst comes to pass and her father loses his life in the disastrous weather. She is forced to move in with Peter’s younger brother, Philip, in the city.

Philip is awkward, dull and owns a company that sells doorknobs. Nemo is enrolled into a school which is a shocking change for her. On the positive side of things, her life completely transforms when she sleeps at night as she passes into the world of dreams, Slumberland.

With her stuffed pig (which is alive in this world) in tow, Nemo meets Flip, who confesses that Peter and him were partners till he had a child. Nemo is astonished that Flip is actually real and agrees to go on an adventure with him.

Flip is in search of magic pearls that can grant the holder any wish, and promises Nemo that she can see her father one more time with their help.

Slumberland ending explained in detail:

How do Flip and Nemo go about their adventure?

The little girl finds the map that her father had for the location of these magical artefacts, and sets up a hammock in her school basement. She sleeps there during lessons to spend most of her time in Slumberland, looking for the pearls.

Flip and Nemo’s adventure begins and takes through a lot of ups and downs. What the little girl doesn’t know is that Flip is wanted by the dream bureau as his quest is against the laws of Slumberland. Therefore, they are pursued by Agent Green, who is keen to apprehend the rowdy outlaw.

She manages to capture Nemo and tells her that the story of the pearls is nothing more than a myth. She then wakes her up. However, Nemo isn’t someone who gives up and continues travelling to Slumberland.

Who is Flip?

Nemo eventually discovers that Flip wants to find the pearls in order to wake up. It is explained that if one spends a lot of time in the dream world, they forget their true self in the waking world. Flip doesn’t know who he is and wants to get out.

In the real world, Nemo has a tough time seeing eye to eye with Philip. In a shocking turn of events, she finds out that Peter and Philip used to be close as kids, and often had adventures of their own, where the latter would take up the name Flip.

A switch flips inside Nemo’s brain, and she realises that her Slumberland friend is none other than her uncle’s adventurous and happy self. The reason Philip is dull and melancholy is because he stopped dreaming after his brother left to have a family.

That is when Flip got stuck and has been wanting to leave ever since.

Does Nemo meet her father?

After an argument with her uncle, Nemo tries to sail to the lighthouse herself but is knocked out in the storm by an oar. In Slumberland, a scary creature called the nightmare follows her.

Agent Green tells Nemo that she will be hunted until she lets go of her suffering. Meanwhile, Philip gets the coast guard involved and searches for her in the waking world.

Nemo finally manages to find the location of the pearls and picks one up as the nightmare attacks again. Flip does his best to protect Nemo, but is overpowered by the creature.

The little girl makes a quick decision and decides to save her friend by wishing for him to wake up, using up her only pearl. Nemo almost drowns but is saved by Philip. However, she is still unconscious.

In Slumberland, Agent Green tells her to squeeze her pig and Nemo discovers that it had swallowed another pearl. She wishes to see her dad again and succeeds.

Peter tells her to let go of the past and live a wonderful life that waits for her with Philip. He then urges her to wake up. Nemo gains consciousness as Philip hugs her, promising to never abandon her.

The duo starts afresh with Nemo trying to fit into her new schedule, and Philip back to his charming and adventurous self. They go sailing after school and discuss dreaming some more at night.


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