Whether in movies, plays, cartoons, or storybooks, most of us have experienced Neverland before, maybe even in the Peter Pan Disneyland ride. While Finding Neverland allows us to catch a glimpse of the fantasy world once again, it also does something more – it shows us how to get there, and it does it in more ways than one.

One of the ways plays out in the primary narrative storyline. J.M Barrie (Johnny Depp) is a struggling playwright when he encounters four imaginative young brothers who bring out the child in him. We see Barrie’s progression, with multiple references to the future Peter Pan, as he works out the story on the page and on the stage.

Finding Neverland is also the primary thematic storyline of Finding Neverland. Neverland is a place in the mind, a place of hope and joy – and it can only be found if you really believe in it. Peter (Freddie Highmore), one of the younger Davies brothers, is struggling to find peace in an imaginary world when his own mother (Kate Winslet) is sick and his father has recently died.

Barrie also struggles to keep his youthful world. Whenever he begins to get his feet off the ground he is pulled back down to reality by his wife Mary (Radha Mitchell), and the boys’ grandma (Julie Christie). The storyline with Mary is particularly unfortunate because it seems to suggest that there is a limit to the belief in limitless potential that Barrie so often champions.

While Finding Neverland is about learning to stay young, it’s also about learning to grow up. As his mother grows sick, the oldest Davies child begins to see things from a mature perspective. The moment the boy begins to recognize the need for responsibility, Barrie declares he is an adult. It’s an important touch, because we recognize that the seemingly anti-responsibility, pro-childishness Barrie recognizes a need for balance between the two worlds. While he insists on a child-like heart, he doesn’t give up the mature mind.

Finding Neverland spends a lot of scenes in the build up of the story, as Barrie meets and plays with the boys. The picture is always fresh though. Depp holds a subtle, understated performance well and the period piece is lushly framed. Full of hope, optimism and idealism, Finding Neverland is a ray of colored light in a dark, mundane world.

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