Though their model of producing movies is consistent, the quality across Blumhouse Productions’ vast filmography definitely varies. For every M3GAN, there is a Truth or Dare, which happens to share the same director, Jeff Wadlow, who is once again filling that role with this year’s Imaginary. Despite not enjoying any of his last five films, I remained optimistic heading in. After finally watching, while it isn’t the most surprising outcome, it is rough to report that Imaginary is massively bogged down by a convoluted script directed in the most stilted manner by Wadlow.
The story is immediately familiar as we follow a family of four moving back into the old, suburban home the mother had grown up in. Following them is a rocky familial dynamic, most notably between DeWanda Wise and her older, more resentful stepdaughter. Amidst it all, the discovery of a lone teddy bear in the basement by Pyper Braun’s younger, curious daughter begins causing more erratic behavior within her. With how common it is for kids to develop these “friends” from the figments of their imagination, on paper, adding an edge of terror to the idea seems like a recipe for the perfect beginner horror film for children. In its execution of this Child’s Play-esque narrative, the freaky elements are rendered hollow more often than not due to character interactions that feel inorganic, coupled with unrealistic dialogue exchanges.
As our main protagonist, Wise does the most she can with the material, attempting to bring a psychological edge to the character throughout. While appreciated, this doesn’t take away from the film’s handful of odd moments, including the teenage next-door neighbor trying to sweep the daughter off her feet with drugs, only to ultimately be played off for laughs. Another neighbor works to fulfill the repetitive role across many horror films of the ‘purveyor of supernatural mythology’, conveniently spoon-feeding the being’s backstory to the mother and audience. Whether due to her delivery, the lines themselves, or a mix of the two, the scenes always read inauthentically, almost feeling as if a studio forced them in to simplify the narrative.
Being the centerpiece of its extensive marketing campaign, I would be remiss not to talk about the main villain, Chauncey the Bear. In a similar fashion to the trailers, most of his screen time sees him as the inanimate teddy bear, framed to look devious as he sits motionless with the most generic horror score accentuating the entire sequence. The brief flashes of his practical design throughout are enough to recognize the effects team’s decent work, but not enough to explore the creative concept.
The confines created by the smaller budget similarly impact the film’s big finale, leading to the final setpiece that feels more like a subpar Goosebumps episode than a theatrical feature. There is a shot that zooms out dramatically to reveal an incredible landscape here, but the way the space is utilized in such a limited capacity feels very underwhelming.
Before the credits roll, Imaginary sets itself up for an obvious, expected sequel, which it may get solely due to how cheap it cost to produce despite the uninspired final product. All things considered, its formulaic conclusion, clearly piggybacking off the success of M3GAN, may be too rushed and empty of a product to warrant another outing. Chauncey the Bear is better off just staying at the toy store.
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