I never expected this to be good but it is a marvel the levels of bad this movie reaches. Jeff Wadlow needs to be stopped.
Movie wasn’t bad.. wasn’t great. Will definitely have to give it another rewatch when it hits streaming. Movie theater was decently packed for a Saturday night showing. Most of it were teens but it didn’t affect my showing at all.
The movie itself: Storyline was great, some things I wasn’t expecting. The trailer from the moving going in, it definitely didn’t show anything and everything major. Just some of the “bigger” jump scares. Speaking of jump scares, there were some typical jump scares but it was not overly done.
Like I said, I’ll try to give a better review when/if it hits streaming, this was based off of thought a few days after I saw the movie.
Scavenger hunt list:
✓ A Child's Play ripoff
✓ A parody of Insidious
✓ An angry Ted
✓ A bowl of tired horror tropes
✓ Jumpscares that couldn't even scare a kid
✓ Cheesy acting and dialogue
✓ A decent first twist
✓ Mildly interesting stepmother/stepdaughter storyline
✓ A well-placed The Walking Dead allusion for Tom Payne
✓ A ridiculous, laughable and overlong third act that doesn't work because it takes itself too seriously
✓ Lives up to the Blumhouse name nowadays
Deffo not on my watch again list ☹
The funnest part of the movie was the unironic stock scream in the first minute. Sadly everything else is pretty cliche and formulaic. The child actress does good but I always think that, of course I’m going to feel for a kid character played by an actual child, that’s not an accomplishment. The old lady is having fun. Everyone else is trying but lose their grasp on such a bland script. I was hoping it’d be a fun bad or a good time, but it’s just boring.
Imaginary is like a knock-off Cinderella DVD sold on check-out racks in a grocery store: it's familiar and cheap say the same time.
Basically, Insidious for younger kids.
The story is very weak, a mixture of elements ranging from fantasy, adventure and supernatural horror, without managing to connect them well, ending up shooting everywhere and hitting nothing. The only highlight is the child's performance.
The concept is not bad...
But fuck after 30 minutes I got lazy, I had to watch it x2 to finish it....
If you can, don't watch it...
It's not bad, but seriously, watch something else...
This movie was descent until the last 20 mins or so. Wow! Things went south, the acting became atrocious. Is this a MUST WATCH? Only if you run out horror movies to watch.
The first half of the movie really good,liked the effects for real,and then not sure whathappened but Z category suddenly.SO if you only watch first half until the "reveal" the movie could been an 8.
edit: I dont mind the inspirations showed here but most made no sense lol.
"Imaginary" offers a passable experience within the Blumhouse canon, albeit lacking in groundbreaking elements. While not a standout, the film's concept holds promise, with commendable performances from the lead actress and the young co-star. However, the portrayal of the older sister feels inconsistent, detracting from the overall narrative cohesion. Directorial choices inject a surreal quality, adding intrigue to the storyline. Yet, the inclusion of the old neighbour lady character seems hastily executed. For viewers not typically drawn to Blumhouse productions, "Imaginary" may not offer enough to warrant a repeat viewing, but it manages to deliver a moderately engaging experience nonetheless.
Why was this so long? For a generic, predictable, and repetative plot, there's almost no excuse. The editing and acting felt so off and the teddy? It's literally Ted on steds. I'm this close to giving up on 'horror' if it needs an annoying child or know it all granny. The concept was great, but the execution wasn't. It was nice seeing Brett from Waterloo Road for 10 minutes. A lot of things didn't add up, and it ruined even the slightest bit of enjoyability. The only way I could see this movie being fun is with company.
Imaginary - :heart:x5
I was expecting more and better from a Blumhouse production. Sadly this one was pretty weak.
This felt and looked like a 3rd-rate horror movie plucked directly from the 1980s. In other words cheezy and barely watchable.
How I rate:
1-3 :heart: = seriously! don't waste your time
4-6 :heart: = you may or may not enjoy this
7-8 :heart: = I expect you will like this too
9-10 :heart: = movies and TV shows I really love!
I find it really hard to like a movie when they make one of the main characters completely unlikable from start to finish (the sister), other than that it was a fine "imaginary friend" horror movie.
Not great at all. Brings nothing new to the genre at all and I wish I could say that I was engrossed, but the scares were minimal and ineffective and the plot was just mediocre at best.
So much wasted potential with an absolutely stupid twist.
dumb fucking movie. taegan burns is a huge bitch
Turned it off with 30 minutes left.
Do yourself a favor and don't waste an hour and 44 minutes watching this trash of a movie
The movie was very, very bad, it was a disaster
Pyper Braun merits praise, 'Imaginary' otherwise falls flat.
I was never locked into the story and I didn't really care for the characters at any point, even Braun's Alice isn't all that interesting despite a rather great performance from the young actress. DeWanda Wise is a bit dull, while Tom Payne disappoints somewhat - I mean he only has a small role, sure, but his acting is unconvincing... and I know he can actor far better, as seen during his time on TV's 'The Walking Dead'.
The antagonists in this are poorly utilized, the poster bear is prevalent but very boring. It needed a Chucky-esque portrayal, rather than the blank stare we get every few minutes. The ending also drags, I thought it was going to end sooner a few times but it kept finding new ways to stick around; nothing majorly grating, granted. The score is at least OK.
It also, amusingly, took me ages to work out what the bear's name was. I'm not familiar with the name "Chauncey", so genuinely for the longest time thought the name was either "John C" or "Shaun C". It was only when I finally noticed it written down visually that I realised! :joy:
In conclusion, credit to Braun but everyone else onscreen and off it could've done better in my opinion.
Review by Benoit TevesVIP 3BlockedParentSpoilers2024-03-18T03:31:53Z
The first 45 minutes — and final 10 minutes — of Imaginary are pretty banal.
The acting lacks believability, the writing is subpar (many of the characters are outright mean for seemingly no reason), and there’s a fair amount of genre cliche splashed across it. Haunting figures out of focus that disappear when we cut away? Distorted sounds of a music box? A possessed children’s toy? It’s all here, and we’ve all seen it a million times. The jump scares, while cheap and loosely used, serve their purpose: I jumped.
But when this movie really focuses on the teddy bear and his lore (yes, there’s lore), it’s at its best.
Jessica (DeWanda Wise) is a children’s book writer and illustrator who has moved into her childhood home with her husband and stepdaughters. When the youngest, Alice (Pyper Braun) discovers a teddy bear named Chauncey in the basement, she befriends him. The games she plays with Chauncey become increasingly sinister until they verge on self-mutilation, at which point Jessica intervenes. After Alice goes through a disturbing session with a child psychologist and Chauncey, Jessica tells the psychologist that she’s going to burn the teddy bear and stands up to do so, only for the psychologist to turn to her in confusion and ask:
“What bear?”
At this point, the movie gets much more interesting.
An investigation of Jessica’s personal connection to this entity known as Chauncey cracks wide open. While Jessica searches within herself for answers, and the implications on her family begin to unravel, the neighbor Gloria (Betty Buckley) introduces us to the idea that “imaginary friends” are not as innocuous as they may seem. These entities appear in cultures and religions worldwide and across the ages, typically benevolent beings that attach themselves to children and revel in their friendly and creative spirits until the relationship naturally fades as the child grows up. But when the connection is severed prematurely, problems arise. The amount of actual legend or religious ideology that this is based in is unclear (likely very little), but it’s a fascinating angle on the idea of an imaginary friend. Unfortunately, we don’t get much more of this lore; the essential takeaway is nothing more than Chauncey’s motivations.
You may have noted that I mentioned a husband and multiple daughters, and then omitted them from the synopsis. That’s because they are entirely inconsequential to the plot, and the actors portraying them seem to know this and dialed in accordingly mediocre performances. There’s also a real caricature of a teenage bad-boy who serves no purpose other than to give us a scare sequence; some cuts could have been made from these moments to give us extra time for lore-building and a proper denouement.
This film feels long, but not in a horrible way; there are multiple moments when they do make unexpected choices that elongate the runtime — like actually taking us into a dark realm of imagination by way of an almost religious ceremony and a “benediction” (that word is actually used) — but I’m glad that they did. In fact, if it would have meant a less abrupt ending and more lore, ten additional minutes would have been apt.
Check it out for yourself and take note of when you sat up in your seat and think, “oh, interesting!”
Because that’s the kind of horror movie jolt that I can get behind.