Imaginary Review — It’s All in Your Head

If a horror film is dark and the audience can’t see it, are they really watching a horror film? Such is the case with the latest spooky movie released by Blumhouse Productions, Imaginary. Directed by Jeff Wadlow (Fantasy Island), Imaginary follows children’s author and new stepmom Jessica, who moves her family into her childhood home, unwittingly unleashing the imaginary – and horrific – creature within. Jessica is played by DeWanda Wise (She’s Gotta Have It) while her partner Max is played by Tom Payne (The Walking Dead). Their children Alice and Taylor, are played by Pyper Braun and Taegen Burns (The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers), respectively.

Betty Buckley (Split) also plays their neighbor Gloria, who pops up for a good jump scare or two. The film’s story kicks off after Alice finds a stuffed bear in the basement. She quickly begins talking to “Chauncey”, her new imaginary friend. Unfortunately, it’s not quite all fun and games with the bear as it sends her on a scavenger hunt, which becomes increasingly disturbing. When Jessica connects the event to her own childhood, she realizes that the threat might be even more sinister than she originally believed.

Moving Like a Freight Train

Imaginary’s plot constantly evolves, adding new contributing scares and interesting story developments. Rather than forcing it to go off the rails, the movie feels fresh and entertaining because it keeps moving. The premise is fairly enjoyable on its own, but if it were poorly executed, Imaginary wouldn’t be as fun as it is. Representing Chauncey’s voice as Alice talking in a demonic Yoda-like growl was a brilliant choice. Things like this add to the humor – which is always welcome in a horror film – but it also exudes an otherworldly terror, similar to a possession.

The two leads don’t have much chemistry, which is fine because Payne is barely in it. Max goes on a trip quite quickly, leaving Jessica to deal with her stepchildren and Chauncey alone. Most of the performances are solid, with some fluctuation in the more serious scenes. Taylor is a fairly stereotypical role, in that she is the stepdaughter annoyed by Jessica’s attempts to try to connect with her and her sister. It’s a bit tired, but the idea of familial connections is at the bedrock of this movie, so it works by the end. 

The story is without a doubt the best thing about the film, which is why I haven’t gone into spoiler territory too much. There are a few twists in the movie that are classic horror staples, and they commit to executing them as seriously as possible, which put a smile on my face. Imaginary takes an interesting premise – the idea that your imaginary friend could be evil – and works with it as much as it can. They might have been able to go further with the plot in some areas, and in those moments I couldn’t help but yearn for what could have been. 

You Can’t See Your Imaginary Friend

The biggest problem with the film is its lighting. Imaginary is lit naturalistically, with the characters fully visible in outdoor scenes. But, because of the natural lighting, most of the indoor shots do the opposite. It’s a horror movie, we can expect that a certain percentage of it will be in the dark. But, the lighting makes it so that you can barely make out the expressions of the characters. Not only is it frustrating when you can’t see the emotional moments, but it ruins some of the jumpscares as well. 

The poor lighting might be because the filmmaker wanted to shroud the imaginary creature in darkness, hiding what they looked like. But, in the rare moments you do get a full glimpse of them, they look creepy and add to the atmosphere. There’s no reason why Jessica couldn’t have turned on a light, either in the house or on her phone. The darkness does detract from some of the jumpscares which is a shame because there are more than a few great ones. Imaginary manages to reach that sweet spot between creepy and scary, and you might end up jumping more than once.

While we’re talking about the film’s spookiness, we need to talk about the soundtrack. Bear McCreary’s (God of War) soundtrack switches between eerie undertones and childlike terror, using the noises associated with children’s toys to add an extra layer of horror. The sound design is handled beautifully, with some moments causing me to shudder because of it. 

You Won’t Want An Imaginary Friend

There’s a short romance subplot between Taylor and a neighbor named Liam (Matthew Sato) that isn’t handled particularly well. Liam’s quite a dumb character, and he doesn’t serve as comic relief that much so the entire subplot is fairly barebones. On the other hand, there are great subplots with both Jessica and her sick father, and Taylor with her sick mother. They were both handled fairly well and supported the characters’ motivations and development subtly, but substantially. 

If you’re in the mood to go and watch a horror movie, you should catch Imaginary in theaters. It’s fun, doesn’t take itself too seriously, and it has a great plot with some fun twists. Just be prepared to jump in your seat a few times. If not, you should at least check it out when it becomes available digitally and you can hide your stuffed animals and keep the lights on. We already know that the movie won’t.

You can catch Imaginary in theaters from March 8, 2024.