True to Gilliam's style, the film's visuals are its greatest asset. The Imaginarium segments are "accentuated, animated realities" that reflect the internal dreams and nightmares of those who enter.

After Ledger's death, Gilliam cleverly cast Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell to play "transformed" versions of Ledger’s character, Tony, inside the Imaginarium.

Parnassus must race to collect five souls within his "Imaginarium"—a dream world accessed through a magic mirror—to save his daughter.