Blumhouse and Lionsgate’s “Imaginary” from writer and director Jeff Wadlow follows Jessica (DeWanda Wise) and her family after they move back to her childhood home. When her step-daughter Alice (Pyper Braun) begins to speak with an imaginary friend named Chauncey from Jessica’s childhood, they discover the friend may not be as fake as they believe.
Sadly, the film’s script is unimaginative despite what the title may lead audiences to believe. Its predictability makes for a rather boring watch as it becomes almost laughable that audiences can predict what will happen at every turn. An example of this comes in the film’s first twist which occurs midway through the runtime and presents itself as shocking when in reality, it does nothing. The second twist that occurs in the final 20 minutes is even more predictable and can be guessed from the first 10 minutes of the film. Wouldn’t you believe it, but there’s also one final twist in the last nine minutes that’s incredibly bland and lazy. The script features loads of cool ideas and concepts, but they don’t feel like they were built upon with much thought. There’s also a problem in that there are way too many dialogue scenes with things that don’t come to fruition or matter in any capacity. Additionally, there is not enough of Chauncey the imaginary friend until the third act. The performances by the actors are also rough, but that comes down to the script more than their actual effort. Watching “Imaginary” feels equivalent to going down a checklist as audiences mark off generic horror beats in hopes of ending the unimaginative nightmare.
Considering the film’s kid-centric story, the visual style and flair of the film make it at the very least a visual treat. The design of Chauncey the bear in particular shows this off the best, as his teddy bear form looks just like a toy one would buy at the story because it looks simultaneously eerie and huggable. The use of the lead character’s drawings for kid books as a constant motif also helps build out the world and adds to the elements of the plot relating to her youth. Once the third act kicks into overdrive and the characters enter an alternate world, the visual style also gets cranked up making for a satisfying change of visual pace. The world is shrouded in darkness and many shades of blues while appearing as a crazy maze to mimic the vastness of our own minds. It’s quite smart. There’s also a returning motif of this light-up music-box-time contraption that plays jaunty trumpet-filled tunes, and it will fill audiences with joy (or maybe dread for some) when it pops up multiple times throughout the runtime.
Two of the strongest elements of the film are the dream sequences that tend to reference “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and the practical bear monster effects promised in the trailer for Chauncey. The imaginary world takes on the physics of the “Elm Street” movies and it even references Springwood at the beginning of the movie with an address. The physical bear puppet used for the nightmare version of Chauncey is a joy to behold, yet sadly, it only makes an appearance for around five minutes at the very end of the film alongside a split-second jumpscare midway through the entire movie.
“Imaginary” is unimaginative despite having a good message and interesting concepts. The practical effects and style are nice but won’t do enough to hold audiences’ attention as the rough and predictable script plays out. Blumhouse should consider putting a little more effort into their low-budget films as even cheesy horror flicks still need to employ good filmmaking techniques.
1 ½ imaginary murder teddy bears out of 5
