Imaginary is an oddly frustrating experience. It has a clever premise, some effective jump scares, cool location design and the occasional interesting twist. It also has very lame dialogue, dull characters, ridiculously obvious exposition and goofy creature design. Whenever I was on the verge of legitimately enjoying it, one of those things would swiftly take me out of it. Whenever I was about to give up entirely, there would be a nice directorial touch or amusing development. It doesn’t quite work, but it doesn’t totally not work. It is an accurate example of Blumhouse horror, with a promising high concept, energetic filmmaking, a sense of humor and suspect execution.
Jessica moves back to her childhood home with her husband and his two daughters, resentful teenager Taylor and lonely little Alice. One day, Alice finds an old teddy bear behind a secret door in the basement. She says his name is Chauncey and she spends all her time with him. At first, Jessica is thrilled that Alice has a friend, even if he isn’t real. Then, things take a dark turn and Jessica becomes concerned about Alice’s behavior.
The idea of an imaginary friend that is real and possibly malevolent isn’t original, though that is far from the biggest issue here. The setup is too slow and way too much time is spent getting us to the Never Ever (as this other place is called). The characters are introduced in clunky scenes, with artless dialogue and potentially intriguing directions are barely dealt with.
The movie wants Jessica to be vulnerable coming back to the home she remembers being happy in, while being desperate to prove her love to her stepdaughters. Okay, that is an acceptable way to build drama around childhood trauma and adult redemption, especially when combined with another little girl who has been faced with similar abuse. But did they have to make her new husband such an awkward nonentity? He makes a few unconvincing suggestions that Jessica is doing just fine as a mom, hardly shows any interest in the girls, then disappears on a sudden trip slightly before things get bad, never to be seen again. This is merely a taste of the screenplay’s problems with basically everything not involving Alice and her ominous friendship with Chauncey.
Yet by using the visual of an innocent looking stuffed bear and establishing the existence of another realm, built on childlike imagination, that this entity calls home, Imaginary (100 minutes, minus the end credits) does distinguish itself a bit. I wish the Never Ever had been explored a lot more. The same can be said for the connection between Jessica and Alice. Less explanation of what Chauncey is would have made him creepier. While the movie piles on mythology (mostly from an old neighbor who has a history with Jessica), it doesn’t make it coherent or engaging. I didn’t even care about the plot holes; I just wanted some horror goodness I could sink my teeth into.
The more I write, the less I like Imaginary. It is not that I expected much out of it. It is more that you can see, based on what is there, how this could have been successful. The elements are there. The direction has a tiny amount of wit to it. Even the performances are solid (highlighted by young Pyper Braun as adorable Alice). The story and dialogue are definitely not.
2 out of 5
Cast:
DeWanda Wise as Jessica
Pyper Braun as Alice
Taegen Burns as Taylor
Betty Buckley as Gloria
Directed by Jeff Wadlow
Screenplay by Greg Erb, Jason Oremland and Jeff Wadlow
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