The Stream: Lacks anything scary and feels juvenile.

The Big Screen: Betty Buckley shows up to be weird in a few scenes.

The Final Bill: There are scarier, more interesting episodes of “Are You Afraid of the Dark?”

– Trip Fontaine
Director: Jeff Wadlow
Writers: Jeff Wadlow, Jason Oremland, Greg Erb
Stars: DeWanda Wise, Taegen Burns, Pyper Braun, Betty Buckley, Tom Payne
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Rating: PG-13 for some violent content, drug material and language.
Runtime: 1 hour 40 minutes
Production Companies: Blumhouse Productions, Lionsgate Films, Tower of Babble Entertainment
Platform: In theaters March 8, 2024
Notable Trailers: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, King Arthur, The Strangers: Chapter 1

Hey, Streamers! It’s usually a good thing when a movie gets your heartrate elevated. Whether it’s a sexy romantic drama, a high-octane action flick, or a spine–tingling horror movie, a movie that grabs your attention is always worth a trip to the theater. In order to chase that feeling, I saw Imaginary in the hopes that this supernatural horror film would get my blood pumping and hold my attention. Here’s how it went.

Imaginary is the latest release from Blumhouse Productions about an imaginary friend with nefarious intentions. In this movie, Jessica (DeWanda Wise) returns to her childhood home with her new husband and stepdaughters after her father falls ill and goes into an assisted living facility. When Alice (Pyper Braun), Jessica’s youngest stepdaughter, finds and befriends a teddy bear in the basement, she becomes obsessed with the bear as her imaginary friend, Chauncey. Jessica begins to notice strange things related to Alice and Chauncey’s new friendship. As things get more sinister, Jessica must spring into action to save her family. Childhood game and jump scare hijinks ensue.

Imaginary is about as scary and thrilling as a lackluster episode of “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” Actually, I don’t want to disparage a classic show. There are scarier, more entertaining episodes of “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” The characters in this movie are so dumb. I don’t understand anything Jessica does, and I feel bad for DeWanda Wise being stuck in such a bad movie. The teenage stepdaughter is awful. Why do teens in these movies always have to be the worst?!!? It’s such an annoying cliche. Obviously, the biggest problem is that the movie isn’t scary. I believe there is potentially something scary about childhood imaginary friends, but this movie did not figure out how to portray that. The plot is so basic until it completely goes into left field, and there really could have been something scary and truly creepy explored. It’s definitely a missed opportunity.

On a side note: Betty Buckley shows up here to be completely unhinged and crazy. She’s always a fun presence when she pops up in these random, schlocky horror movies.

Ultimately, Imaginary fails to deliver anything scary or even an interesting supernatural horror movie. The premise could have been interesting, but the filmmakers made a schlocky, cliched movie that lacks any scary. This one is only worth one popped kernel.