 What is going on guys welcome back to the channel critical overload here So this would be a spoiler free review for imaginary or a spoiler free as I can help it out say So this movie is directed by Jeff Wadlow who co-wrote the screenplay along with Greg Erb and Jason Ormland three writers what could go wrong? It's starring DeWanda Wise, Tom Paine, Taysian Burns, Piper Braun and Betty Buckley Now this film is revolving around Jessica when Jessica moves back into her home child home with her family Her youngest stepdaughter Alice develops an eerie attachment to a stuffed bear named Chauncey She finds in the basement Alice starts playing games with Chauncey that begin playful and become increasingly Sinister as Alice's behavior becomes more and more concerning Jessica intervenes only to realize Chauncey is much more than the stuffed toy bear. She believed him to be So Yeah Imaginary is another Blumhouse fast food horror extravaganza. It's another our cast is decent But our script is lacking type of event I'm really just gonna give up on 2024 at this point Because the year is starting to feel like just an extended January dump month Admittedly the only reason I even wanted to check this movie out was because of Betty Buckley Who I first saw in I think it was Carrie And I just loved her as Hannah's grandma and pretty little liars for those of you who remember her playing Hannah's Grandma in that show. Anyway, imaginary centered around Jessica who is an author with childhood trauma She also has a rough relationship with her father because of this trauma Jessica is left alone with her two stepdaughters in her childhood home Who also have their own form of trauma because their mom is in the nut house The scares in this screenplay are few and far between most of your standard jump scares which never lingers They only exist to get a cheap rise out of the viewer So there's no Lingering terror at all or suspense or tension or atmosphere anywhere in this movie Alice Chansey's newest BFF and Jessica's youngest stepchild catches people off guard standing in doorways for most of the cheap scares that Imaginary tries to get you with I Would also say or that Jessica who is like quite the artist Discover some old drawings from where she was five or from when she was five and she seemed to be more terrified at these Discoverings of how awful her drawings were than anything revolving around Chansey I don't really blame her either because those drawings were quite horrendous You'll see it when the movie comes out or at least the movies already out You'll see it when you check it out or if you've already checked it out You know what I'm talking about Chansey just comes off like a useless prop more than a scary teddy bear throughout this movie This does the care to no favors when it starts to shape shift into these different forms One being like this oversized bear that looks like naughty bear if he was a drug addict for those of you who remember that game And a few other forms that it decides to take Imaginary has far too much exposition dumping from its over explaining of imaginary friends and their relationships with children all the way To how characters can't help but state the obvious at times There's a major moment where Jessica realizes this link between her Chansey and Alice and I was like wow You don't say it wasn't made obvious earlier anything like that. Yeah. Yeah, keep telling me keep telling me everything I'm seeing as if I'm a fucking idiot Um just useless moments where the film is treating the viewer like you are incapable of putting the puzzle together The core girls are likable, but I was never able to fully invest in their trauma I want to say is because imaginary shows promise with its things about trauma Co-dependency and how kids can cope with certain events But it just never went anywhere worthwhile and preferred to lean into these horror cliches that again Did nothing to serve a purpose to the things of what they were trying to go for The oldest stepdaughter was barely a factor until the third act so that made it hard to connect with her Buckley start as a neighbor and she is nothing more than an exposition device I mean everything that comes out of her mouth was just exposition exposition exposition. This is how that works That's how this works. Oh, let me tell you about Jessica and her time as a kid and the time I saw your dad doing this on the porch like all she was just exposition Then the way these people talk sometimes was just so ridiculous I'm thinking about two specific lines one I think went go home you idiot and then another one being maybe Chauncey will eat you instead It's something like that. I'm divided on if it was the lines or the poor delivery or a combination of the two I will give credit words do to twist in this screenplay caught me by surprise I'll have to revisit this film just for that one specific twist alone That I'm thinking of so I can pinpoint if there are any clues or if they just got lucky I want to give them credit and say that they actually planned it and it just worked very well because the twist caught me off guard One of the best twists I've seen this year in one of the worst horror movies I'm probably gonna watch this year. That's very ironic. So let's talk about Jeff Watlow People were already messaging me saying have you seen imaginary which I hadn't seen it until today They were talking about how this is from the same person who directed truth or dare in fantasy island That was one of the biggest reasons. I was not excited for this I'd be fine if Watlow never directed a horror film again after watching this because while I did say the performances are decent enough Piper Braun who starred as the young Alice character was far above decent She did a wonderful job as this little girl. She was great. It didn't feel forced. Whereas her co-stars Were the opposite on more than one occasion. I'm not saying wise is a bad actress I thought she did pretty good, too But the chemistry between her and her alleged boyfriend husband Whatever he is the chemistry was just non-existent making lines come off like they're taking turns Which stopped this family dynamic from ever being truly convincing Watlow finally starts making this feel like a horror film during its third act specifically the sequence between Naughty Bear Chauncey the oldest stepdaughter and a plug she's trying to connect I think the TV spot spoiled this but that sequence was the most terrifying to me at least There's glimmers of horror here and there before this but in that but imaginary just felt more like a bad drama film than anything else I will commend the practical effects that are on display during the third act as well very well done I also think Jason Blum has brought up doing a Megan and Chauncey crossover or teasing it anyway But now that I've seen imaginary I rather not see that play out I don't even know how that would work given the narrative decisions in this film Had this film not been like a mix of paranormal activity the ghost dimension Which is one of the worst paranormal activity movies and then in cities perhaps it could have been better But it all comes down to the execution and the way that imaginary was executed was just very poor There are some great things in that third act that third act I believe is the strongest and it feels like it should have been a part of a more deserving movie because but What comes before the third act is just not it the pacing I thought was Okay, but there was just nothing really I was going off of with imaginary to really get me to say Oh, this is a good movie. It just had way too many cons with the screenplay. I would give this film I'm gonna give it the same thing I gave night swim, which would be a five and a half out of ten I do see people going really ham on this film. The worst thing I've still seen this year's Founder's Day That's still the worst imaginary while it was bad It wasn't like a movie that I can't see myself revisiting mostly because of that twist That twist has me very intrigued to revisit to see if I will catch on to the clues But let me know what you guys think about this down in the comment section below if you haven't already make sure you subscribe turn on post notification In this video in the description now. I have links to all my social media accounts I'm on Facebook Twitter and Instagram you can message me there to let me knows any movies news or views You like me to cover in the future and with all that in mind guys. I will see you in the next video