Imaginary (2024)

“Never ever.”

2024’s Imaginary, directed by Jeff Wadlow (who also co-wrote the film with Greg Erb and Jason Oremland), could have been a much better film, it just wore out its welcome. The movie stars DeWanda Wise as Jessica, a young stepmother who is trying to connect with her new stepdaughters, and reconnect with her own childhood in the home that she was briefly raised in before being taken away from her abusive father. When she and her family move into the home, the youngest daughter, Alice (Pyper Braun), becomes attached to a stuffed bear that she finds in the basement, names it Chauncey, and then begins exhibiting strange behaviors, some that are harmful to Alice and others. As Jessica digs deeper into Alice’s disturbing relationship with her imaginary friend, the she and her stepdaughters discover a terrifying world where imaginary friends feed off of the energy of creative children.

As I stated before, Imaginary isn’t necessarily a bad film, it’s just too long, lacks, shockingly, imagination, gets goofy really, really quick, and follows cookie-cutter plotlines that prevent it from standing out from the pack. The primary players in the film, Wise, Braun, and Taegan Burns, who portrays Alice’s older sister, Taylor, all do very good jobs in their roles. The supporting cast, which includes Tom Payne, Matthew Sato, Veronica Falcon, and a wasted Betty Buckley, also do a fine job in their roles. The script, however, kills the effectiveness of their performances, especially Buckley and Falcon, who are my favorite actors in the film. The creature is also a bit underwhelming, and never proves to be that scary despite eating people and popping up in the shadows throughout the film.

In short, Imaginary wasted its opportunity to give horror fans a unique look at imaginary friends as monsters. Generic storytelling, a weak villain, and nearly zero scares made for a dull film that should have ended about twenty minutes before the credits finally role. It’s available on Peacock at the moment, so I recommend watching it there if you subscribe to that service. I’d also say that it has rentability, but I don’t necessarily recommend it.

Thanks for checking out my post.