The Wasteland Reviewer

Imaginary (2024) Written Review

Where is Blumhouse in the realm of modern horror? Jason Blum stormed onto the scene with some impressive quality films that reinvigorated the pulp horror subgenre. Many of their films channel the energy that made 80s horror films so much fun. But lately, their track record has become considerably shaky with more and more of their films being failures. There are a few gems but most of their films feel like missed potential. They let a lot of creators take chances, which is admirable, but there are some unfortunate patterns developing.

But does Jeff Wadlow’s Imaginary break the trend? Unfortunately, it is the perfect representation of what has been going wrong recently. There is a strange influx of imaginary friend films coming out (I guess Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends was a head of its time) and this new horror flick certainly has a fun take on it. There is so much potential there to get creative (especially from a visual standpoint) but most of the film is trudging through your basic suburban horror neighborhood. The most glaring issues certainly come from the script, written by Wadlow along with Greg Erb and Jason Oremland. When you watch the film, you cannot help seeing Alice in Wonderland and Coraline all over it but Imaginary never feels like more than just a cheap imitation. But the film also borrows some of the most tiring tropes from every horror movie ever made. Creep kid? Child therapy session went wrong? Random expert of random topic explaining the backstory of the horrific entity? This one has it all.

What is the most important thing for a horror film? Is it scary! This one…has its moments. There is one teddy bear related scare from the trailers which works well. There are some good uses of deep focus to have silhouettes in the background and they can be creepy. Once you get to the final act and we see the imagination world, there are some impressive production designs and some rock-solid jump scares. When you see some of the real forms of imaginary friends, the character designs are disturbing. But the unfortunate feeling is that the scares feel so overdone, and nothing feels fresh.

Are you ready for some more writing? There are even more shortcomings, and they are all plot and character related. There are a few twists in the film and deliver either predictable reveals or downright dumb “surprises”. There are functions of this narrative that are so clunky and awkward that it doesn’t feel right. But the characters leave so much to be desired. Our protagonist, Jessica, is the only one with any depth at all with a background full of trauma. But the stepdaughters feel more like stereotypes and the husband is barely a character. It is hard to get invested when so many of the characters offer nothing.

Can the cast members at least make this work? DeWanda Wise is offering a solid if not uneven performance which is tough to anchor this ridiculous film. Taegan Burns only has fleeting moments to work with but is mostly lost in a flat character. Young Pyper Braun goes big and can be quite enjoyable. But it is Broadway legend Betty Buckley who is completely out of place and awkward that takes you out of the film.

Does Wadlow deliver a film that is at least enjoyable to watch? There are moments but you will be enjoyable and there is some creativity in the third. But the issue is that you realize that it could have been so much more and that so much is taken from better films. There are threads of dark comedy that work which begs the question of why that wasn’t the tone for the whole film. Imaginary turned out to have a decent amount of potential, but it just made it clearer how disappointing the final result was.