Imaginary is a new horror/thriller by Blumhouse, which released in March 2024, and reflects another of the company’s unique and creative stories — this time by utilizing the comforting world of imaginary friends. It takes this comfort we know and distorts it into a terrifying experience that albeit is unique, takes a bunch of cliches to make it happen.
Studying cinema for the last four years has allowed me to point out where this film went wrong despite my glass-half-full mentality. I really wish I could say I enjoyed this film. The idea of imaginary friends becoming monsters and gatekeeping their children so they can have whatever they want, whenever they want, is fun and interesting. On the other hand, the “teenage daughter rebelling against the stepmom while dad is busy, thus forcing the two to be together even though the stepdaughter really doesn’t want to, then having them be besties by the end” cliche is really distracting. Speaking of distractions, the daughter gains a “love” interest who is maybe meant to be a distraction? He did not have an ending because his arc stopped when both of the kids’ moms got the boy in trouble. We never saw him again which made his presence irrelevant and only added to the lack of follow-through within the film. There were many plot points in the storyline that weren’t explained and because of that, it ruined continuity in many areas, especially towards the end of the film.
Again, the utilization of imaginary friends makes this world unique. It is great to see how something comforting like imaginary friends can be distorted into an extremely terrifying antagonist. The main character, Jessica, utilizes her imaginary friend to help inspire her career as a children’s author and illustrator. Her relationship with her former friend is complex yet fleshed out by the end. While she never had positive memories with this imaginary creature — which is interesting because imaginary friends aren’t supposed to be terrifying when you are a child — she was able to learn from the personification of the imaginary friend and grow. And by the end, she eventually became a better author and stepmother because of it.
Black Phone, M3gan and Five Nights at Freddy’s have proved that Blumhouse is capable of making great films. But with recent flops like Night Swim and now Imaginary, has Blumhouse reached its prime? I don’t think so. I think there have been a few bumps in the road and they will get past these fumbles in this burnout. Besides, we have two more Five Nights at Freddy’s movies on the way so they aren’t done yet.
Watching this film felt like this was the rough draft prequel to John Krasinski’s IF. Even though this is sadly the last film I will ever see at my local movie theater as they closed down on March 31st, I think cinema will have a resurgence. While streaming may be to blame for the loss in theatrical sales, production companies, like Blumhouse, will continue to show what they are capable of to bring people back to the theater-going experiences.
TJ Bogart is a Senior Cinema Photo major who fears for the day that his childhood imaginary friends come to life. He can be reached at [email protected]