Did you have an imaginary friend when you were young? I had a running narrative in my mind, but I can’t recall imaging or visualizing a friend who wasn’t there. I’ll check with my mom to confirm.
Several recent movies offer different versions of this theme: IF and The Imaginary. We decided to watch both of them this past weekend, and here are my thoughts.
IF is a live-action movie augmented by a variety of CGI imaginary friends. It features an excellent performance from young actress Cailey Fleming and an incredibly subdued performance from Ryan Reynolds (to the point that his role really didn’t need such a big-name actor). The movie is about matching imaginary friends with their original children–now grown up–and rematching others. Overall, it’s fine, though I found it overly sentimental. It’s one of those movies where the sentimental musical score appears way too early in the movie, impressing upon the audience how much they should be feeling. It just felt a little heavy handed. There were a few chuckles along the way thanks to John Krasinski’s brief appearances and some outlandish IFs.
The Imaginary is an animated Japanese-language film with a very similar premise as IF–imaginary friends trying to reconnect with their original children, rematch with others, or just add a little imagination to anyone in need–but it adds a considerable amount of tension through an antagonist who is way scarier than you might see in most kid’s movies. He’s a person who sniffs out and devours imaginary friends with the help of a nightmarish assistant. The antagonist considerably raises the stakes, and the result is–in my opinion–more compelling than IF.
I’m curious to hear your thoughts on these films and if you recall having an imaginary friend when you were young!