Slumberland’s anti-hero, played by Jason Momoa, is a character who develops over the course of the movie. Please read no further if you haven’t watched, as I will drop a major spoiler that’s beautifully handled and worth waiting for. This is a charming film; if you intend to see it, turn back now.

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Flip’s an imp, a troublemaker, someone who lives perpetually in the dreams of others, passing through doorways from one fantasy to the next. He’s an outlaw. If this were all his character offered, we’d call him an archetyped Null and move on.

However, we learn that he’s the dream half-life of a real world character who never remembers his dreams. Uncle Philip is stiff, awkward, unable to connect with other humans. His obsession and job involves door knobs, which is a great thematic complement to Flip’s door-hopping dream-side life. They are two halves of one complete man. Flip is the child who never grew up, and Philip is the man who’s a hollow shell.

In evaluating his Enneagram, how much weight does Flip deserve? He’s a rebellious boy, a Peter Pan. He is Freudian id impulses with no social consequences.

The place where the two versions cross is in the lockpicking. We’re not surprised that Flip would pick locks; that’s the outlaw life. But Philip? Look how joyful he is when he shows Nemo the trick. And his little Houdini catch phrase! The child’s playfulness still lives, stuffed into the dead door knobs hanging on his wall.

This man must be a Head Type. He’s a terrible outlaw with awkward cloven hooves (or wolf paws?). As a man he’s so obviously a nerd who dreamed (literally) of being a swashbuckler.

Hmm, a Five or a Six? He’s thought himself into a corner and split his personality. He’s not really a worrier or someone physically intimidated, so not a Six. His coldness and boring stiffness mask a tentative person who wants to connect and doesn’t know how. Five.

Enneagram and Encaustic

FLIP, FIVE