Danny's Horror Report: Imaginary (2024)

 Written By: Danny Albers 

Imaginary is one of the more unique and bizarre horror films that I’ve seen in a long time. Based on the film cover, you’d think this is the evil adaptation of Ted. However, the teddy bear you see pictured above is far from the only thing nefarious that’s plaguing the family in this movie. Talented actress DeWanda Wise (She’s Gotta Have it) plays Jessica, the main character and step-mother trying to protect her family. Tom Payne (Jesus from The Walking Dead) plays the father of the family Max, however, his character is out of town when most of the shit goes down. Child actresses Taegen Burns and Pyper Braun play the daughters Taylor and Alice. 

Recap 

Jessica, a children’s book author, is working on a new character, “Simon the Spider.” This character brings on nightmares of a memory of her and her father (who’s mentally ill) being attacked by the father. The family moves into her childhood home to confront these dreams. Alice discovers a teddy bear she names Chauncey. The typical imaginary friend trope begins with the young daughter, where she’s talking to her imaginary friend/teddy bear and it begins to creep out the family. An elderly neighbor next door named Gloria who babysat Jessica when she was younger, shared with Jessica that she used to behave similarly to Alice the youngest daughter. Gloria says that she swore at times that Jessica was actually talking to someone instead of just her just having an overactive imagination. This imaginary friend eventually gives Alice a list of weird things to do, like killing bugs and cutting herself to be able to go where Chauncey lives. Jessica begins to think that the home is haunted. When Jessica finds Alice trying to harm herself, she calls a psychologist. Through a series of interviews, it’s revealed that only Jessica and Alice are able to see the teddy bear. Gloria, the neighbor, had a secret motive where she studied imaginary friends actually being spirits of good and evil around the world. She reveals that Jessica’s imaginary friend was also named Chauncey. Jessica looks through the things that made when she was little, and she finds a picture of something called “the never ever” and believes this is where Alice has gone to with Chauncey and is somehow linked to her father going insane. So Jessica, Taylor, and Gloria complete Chauncey’s list and a blue door appears in the basement. They open the door to what can only be described as the evil version of Monsters Inc. The 3 begin to look for Alice, but the real monstrous appearance of Chauncey is revealed. His appearance is similar to Simon the Spider, the story that Jessica painted. Chauncey reveals that Alice and Gloria were all pawns to get Jessica back after her father sacrificed his sanity to save her. Taylor comes back to help Jessica and save her from Chauncey. The film ends with the family going to a hotel, humorously deciding to stay somewhere else when they see a child holding a teddy bear. 

Thoughts 

This movie has an interesting concept, but the “never ever” is a mix of Monster Inc. and Insidious. There are some creepy moments in this movie that builds suspense, but there is far too much filler in the start of the movie. They do this entire introduction of Jessica and the dynamic she has with her husband, and then the husband is just written out of the movie. And Taylor, who’s adamant that Jessica is crazy, is all of a sudden understanding of Jessica and believing of Chauncey being a nefarious spirit all because the ramblings of a crazy woman in a split second. How that dynamic was repaired with no actual evidence of a spirit abducting Alice is pretty hard to believe. Not to mention, once the story begins to unravel, it gets really challenging to pay attention and piece together the flashbacks and their significance to the overall story. And the way they defeat Chauncey is extremely anticlimactic. The one thing I thought that the film did well was the reveal that only Jessica and Alice were able to see Chauncy. It’s a shocking revelation, and it really catches you off guard. 

Danny’s Star Rating: ★★★★★ 5