A One Mann’s Movies review of “Imaginary” (2024).
“Imaginary”: yet another low-thrills horror film; with more than a few passing similarities to “Poltergeist” and “Insidious: The Red Door” (except “The Colour of the door is RRRRR—OYAL BLUE!”)
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
Jessica (DeWanda Wise) moves back into her old childhood home with her new husband Max (Tom Payne) and his daughters Taylor (Taegen Burns) and Alice (Pyper Braun). But when Alice finds a teddy bear in the cellar she creates an imaginary friend called Chauncey and strange things start to happen.
Certification:
UK: 15; US: PG-13. (From the BBFC web site: “Strong threat”.)
Talent:
Starring: DeWanda Wise, Taegen Burns, Pyper Braun, Tom Payne, Betty Buckley.
Directed by: Jeff Wadlow.
Written by: Greg Erb, Jason Oreml & Jeff Wadlow.
Twitter Handle: #ImaginaryFilm.
Running Time: 1h 44m.
Chauncey the bear with Alice, a fine performance by Pyper Braun. (Source: Blumhouse Productions).
“Imaginary” Review:
Positives:
- Chauncey’s theme is a horribly catchy little musical motif that pervades the brain!
- Pyper Braun delivers a cracking little performance as the young girl Alice.
Negatives:
- I’m afraid I found this one ever so tedious to sit through. After my Oscar night awake, I was feeling very sleepy going into this and I found myself nodding off a few times: not good for an action/horror!
- There’s nothing original about it. We have the ‘traditional’ stroppy teen (I had no objection though about the acting of Taegen Burns); a creepy neighbour (Betty Buckley); a portal to another world; and an Annabelle-style adversary.
- The final reel decends into a very tiresome trip to the ‘other side’ with laughable ‘scares’, dodgy special effects and improbable encounters with a very unconvincing ‘entity’.
- Just when you think the film is ending (sappily) there’s a false sunset and we have another dose of frenetic other-side turmoil. Enough already!
The dodgy special effects are behind you. Taegen Burns as the stroppy teen Taylor. (Source: Blumhouse Productions).
Summary Thoughts on “Imaginary”
YET another lacklustre horror-lite, this time from Blumhouse. (The fact that this is a ’15’ in the UK but only a ‘PG-13 in the US underlines the “lite” aspect of it.) “Keep well away” would be my recommendation.
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Trailer for “Imaginary”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XoNfrgrAGM .
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