Given that the promotional material for Imaginary has highlighted a certain stuffed teddy bear, one would be right in assuming that the film – boasting its from the studio that brought us Five Nights at Freddy’s and M3GAN – would be taking inspiration from those two successful properties. Unfortunately, despite such promise, a committed turn from the deserves-better DeWanda Wise, and the occasional inviting visual, Jeff Wadlow‘s supernaturally-inclined horror outing is light on both scares and, ironically, imagination.
At the centre of the supposed terror is Jessica (Wise), a children’s illustrator who’s continually plagued by nightmares. Hoping that surrounding herself in her “happy place” – her childhood home – will fix these night terrors, Jessica’s integration as a stepmother to her husband’s two children (Taegen Burns as moody teen Taylor and Pyper Braun as the young Alice) is all the stress she can handle, and, initially, bringing her new family into the environment where she grew up seems to mend a few issues; at least on the surface.
But when young Alice finds a stuffed bear at the premises, Wadlow’s narrative – written in partnership with Greg Erb (The Princess and the Frog) and Jason Oremland (Playmobil: The Movie) – moves in predictable circles as the bear, named Chauncey, manifests itself as an imaginary friend for young Alice, and soon things are going bump in the night and Jessica’s own nightmares come to light, as she has to face the darkness in order to save her family. Ultimately, it’s nothing the Insidious series hasn’t already attempted.
As a horror film Imaginary, sadly, barely registers, but its penchant for physical effects, its story touching on dementia, loss and guilt, and the continual commitment of Wise allow the film, which thankfully never overstays its welcome at 104 minutes, to not entirely be put to bed. The genre deserves better, and the trope of the exposition-heavy neighbour can entirely be laid to rest, but small wins are ultimately what Imaginary has to cling to, as it’s an all-too-familiar effort that can’t escape its clear Poltergeist inspiration.
The film’s final third is quite the bonkers turn of events, and though its climactic moments are its most liveliest, to some it may be too little too late, and, to others, perhaps too silly to be deemed an appropriate scare; this seeming need to cater the genre to younger audiences sadly undoes any horrific potential this story has, and there’s definitely some nuggets of unsettling promise there.
A story that deserves a better execution, Imaginary is more the afterthought of a power nap than anything deeply rooted in a nightmarish slumber. The tweens may find themselves enjoying the telegraphed scares, but genre appreciators will wait for an after-dark viewing.
TWO STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Imaginary is now screening in Australian theatres.
