‘Imaginary’ Movie Review: No Genuine Scares Included
Photo from IMDb
From Jeremy Kibler
There is a solid framework here for a horror movie about a malevolent imaginary friend — or even a killer plush toy. It’s too bad that director Jeff Wadlow’s Imaginary is done few favors in the mostly flat execution by not being playfully malevolent enough.
DeWanda Wise is warm and charismatic as Jess, a successful children’s book illustrator who moves back into her family home on Elm Street with her new husband, musician Max (Tom Payne), and two stepdaughters, teenage Taylor (Taegen Burns) and 8-year-old Alice (an overly precocious Pyper Braun). When Max leaves to go on tour, Jess is left with the girls for some much-needed stepmommy time. Alice finds a stuffed bear named Chauncey behind a small door in the basement and quickly develops an attachment, which ends up jogging Jess’ repressed memories of her own childhood trauma. Unfortunately, Chauncey is always “hungry,” likes scavenger hunts, and makes Alice do bad things.
Glimmers of the gateway-horror effort that this could have and should have been come through here and there, waiting to break free and really go nuts. For starters, DeWanda Wise instills Jess with rooting interest and can elevate even some of the stiffest dialogue. Her makeup is also always spot-on in every scene, but who said you can’t look radiant when being scared by an imaginary pal? It’s always nice to see Betty Buckley show up, classing up the role of nosy neighbor Gloria, even when she has to convince us of some laughable exposition and character motivations. This is the only movie in which you’ll ever hear a veteran actress say, “Bing Bong” (as in the imaginary friend from Pixar’s Inside Out).
Director Jeff Wadlow (who has made two of Blumhouse’s weaker releases, Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare and Fantasy Island) also scrounges up a creepy atmosphere when the not-so-make-believe entity lurks in the background. There are even a couple effective scares, particularly one involving a magic night lamp, but most of them are of the jumpy variety. The animatronics for different versions of Chauncey are creepy enough (before they get all too cheesy), and the M.C. Escher/Labyrinth-esque production design for the dreamscape world of the “Never Ever” is nifty for being on a budget, but all of that craft deserves a more inspired movie.
A teddy bear being an imaginary friend seems like a confused idea at first. It gets a little more clarification after a pivotal revelation, but the more the film gets into the weeds about an otherworldly lair, it’s initially surprising but not that interesting. The script by Wadlow, Greg Era, and Jason Oremland not only feels like spare parts from other, better movies (primarily A Nightmare on Elm Street and Insidious) but must rely on contrivances to work entirely. Jess has happy memories to look back on, courtesy of her dad’s still-working camcorder, but will later conveniently remember the truth. Also, none of this terror could possibly happen with the husband/father at home, so Max is kicked to the curb on a music tour.
Whereas M3GAN was a confidently absurd blast (and against popular opinion, Five Nights at Freddy’s was impish fun as entry-level horror), Blumhouse’s PG-13 latest is too mild to make much of a mark. Even for a movie about imagination, Imaginary doesn’t have much imagination of its own — but unintentional giggles, those are very much included.
Rating: 1.5/5
Imaginary is currently in theaters.
