In the realm of horror cinema, moviegoers often anticipate a chilling experience that leaves them grappling with their darkest fears or provides a visceral spectacle that satiates the appetite for adrenaline-inducing thrills. It’s a tricky balance, one that, when achieved, can elevate a horror film to a cult favorite or an artistic masterpiece. However, not every movie manages to reach those heights or provide much-needed jolts or psychological depth. Such is the case with the latest Blumhouse production, “Imaginary,” which unfortunately does not fulfill the potential offered by its premise, landing in a nebulous space of missed opportunities and unexplored terrains of the human psyche.
The story centers on Jessica, perceptively portrayed by DeWanda Wise, a writer and illustrator who conjures children’s literature and nightmares in equal measure. She is haunted by a menacing figure from her own creations: Simon the Spider, an entity that blurs the lines between her artistic imagination and her disturbed sleep. Jessica shares her life with musician husband Max, an earnest Tom Payne, and his two daughters from a preceding marriage, Alice and Taylor, played respectively by newcomers Pyper Braun and Taegen Burns. The children’s past is marred by an abusive mother, and considerable effort is made by Jessica to create a nurturing environment for them.
Amidst domestic adjustments with her father’s move to an assisted living facility, the family relocates to Jessica’s childhood house, instigating a series of peculiar and alarming events. While Taylor acclimates quickly, thanks in part to a burgeoning friendship with local boy Liam (Matthew Sato), Alice veers towards a more ominous path. On a fateful exploration of the house’s dank basement, Alice discovers a forgotten teddy bear, and imbues it with the name and persona of Chauncey Bear, a portrayal by Dane DiLiegro that is intended to kindle unease.
The familial dynamics initially dismiss Alice’s fixation with Chauncey as childhood imagination running its natural, albeit eerie, course. However, when this seeming imaginary friend incites Alice towards perilous behavior, the narrative takes a turn from quaint to worrisome. Max’s abrupt exit on tour and subsequent inexplicable disconnection from the plot only intensifies the tension. But it’s when Jessica enlists the help of therapist Dr. Soto, a role infused with quiet intensity by Verónica Falcón, that the deeper, darker crevices of the story start to emerge. Together with Gloria (Betty Buckley), Jessica’s babysitter from her earlier years, they unearth disturbing facets of Jessica’s own childhood.
The concept promised much: an exploration of the fates of our imaginary friends when we outgrow them and the raw potent force of a child’s imagination. But “Imaginary” balks at delving into the shadowy recesses of these themes. Instead, it stumbles through the well-trodden path of horror clichés without providing the intellectual engagement or bone-chilling narrative anticipated with the film’s setup.
The young Pyper Braun as Alice offers a performance that stands out, managing to hold the audience’s engagement with a blend of innocence and haunting presence despite the film’s overall insipid progression. This in itself is praiseworthy and may well be the solitary beacon of enjoyment for an audience soldiering through the movie’s runtime.
In summation, “Imaginary” arrives with the blueprint of an imaginatively fertile horror experience but fails to enliven either as a reflection on emotional traumas of abandonment, or as a shocking supernatural spectacle. As it stands, the film straddles a liminal space, neither committing to a profound psychological odyssey nor succeeding as a gore fest, resulting in a viewing experience best described as wearisome. Nonetheless, it currently occupies screens in theaters for those curious enough to explore this insubstantial addition to the Blumhouse repertoire.
