PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Blumhouse’s Imaginary (2024) hit big screens this weekend with tepid reviews due to the oversell/underdeliver factor that can come with taking on such a high concept with the intent to keep it sleek and simple. But if there’s one thing horror fans are good at, it’s finding potential scares in unlikely places. The imagination is a powerful, uncharted place where these fascinating figures reside. Whether they are benevolent or malevolent is up to the beholder.
Or is it?
Jessica (DeWanda Wise, The Twilight Zone, 2019) moves back to her childhood home with her husband Max (Tom Payne, The Walking Dead, 2010) and his two daughters Taylor (Taegen Burns, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, 2021) and Alice (Pyper Braun, Desperation Road, 2023) to find that the imaginary friend she left behind so many years ago is still there, and angry that she abandoned it. Hungry for the lively imagination of a highly creative little one, Chauncy Bear latches on to young Alice. Before long, it becomes evident that the games Chauncy wants to play with Alice are leading to a dark place, and Jessica must help her step daughters in a fight for their lives – and their sanity.
Bogged down by overly-complex world-building, and endless exposition, the true potential of Imaginary is never quite reached. It is, however, not lost entirely. Chauncy Bear is a fully fleshed-out threat of infinite proportions. Not only bringing on the subtle frights in cuddly teddy bear form, but as a shape shifting monster and cryptid form lurking around every dark corner of the home.
As demonstrated by Jessica in the film, maintaining a bright, active imagination well into adulthood is not only healthy, but extremely beneficial for emotional intelligence. Some of the benefits of an imaginary friend in childhood are:
- They aid in problem solving and managing one’s emotions.
- Children learn early on about their ethics, morals, and values.
- The child is never lonely.
- They tend to show up during times of strife in the child’s life as a way of coping.
Some theories suggest that imaginary friends are entities from the spirit realm. As a child, you are unfettered by the banality of the real world. You have not yet had your imagination stifled by bills and a 9-5 daily grind. So you’re open to the idea of supernatural phenomena, and it is much easier for a spirit to present itself to you.
Chauncy is an entity that feeds off of the imagination of a child. Jessica, being an artist with a wildly creative and active imagination, fed Chauncy well. So her disappearance from his existence left him particularly starved. Alice appears to have the same tendency toward the creative, which puts in her danger of being taken to another realm by Chauncy, where he will keep her forever, as he failed to do with Jessica.
While it has some drawbacks by way of pacing and exposition, Imaginary is still a strong entry into the mythos of the imaginary friend, and the very real “what if” as to whether they do more harm than good. See for yourself. I bet Chauncy will get a scare out of you, regardless.
Imaginary is only in theaters!
Did you have an imaginary friend? Do you still visit with them now and then?
