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Past and present trauma fuse in Jeff Wadlow\u2019s \u201cImaginary,\u201d the latest in the Blumhouse catalog of reliably creepy horror movies whose fans typically expect well-executed jump scares, fun plot twists and the occasional rubbery monster. What they probably don\u2019t expect is the sophisticated allegory that \u201cImaginary\u201d appears to be flirting with \u2014 and comes close to pulling off \u2014 before losing its nerve.<\/p>\n
Or maybe it\u2019s my imagination gone supernova alongside that of little Alice (a delightful Pyper Braun) and her stepmother, Jessica (DeWanda Wise), a writer and illustrator of children\u2019s books. After Jessica\u2019s father is settled in a care facility, she and her family \u2014 including a rebellious teen (Taegen Burns) and a guitar-playing husband (Tom Payne) who smartly buzzes off on tour when things get hairy \u2014 move into her childhood home. Almost immediately, Alice is conversing with a stuffed teddy bear she finds in the basement, an imaginary friend whose increasingly sinister games stir memories Jessica has long suppressed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
On one level, then, we have a mildly embellished haunted-house picture, entertainingly realized mainly with puppets and other practical effects. There\u2019s also the familiar eerie neighbor (here played by the wonderful Betty Buckley) whose job is to help us make sense of the story\u2019s woo-woo logic. What\u2019s also playing out, though, are the lonely struggles of a stressed-out second wife, who is Black, to connect with the distant, sometimes resentful white stepdaughters whose mentally ill birth mother is not entirely out of the picture.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
In that sense, the movie\u2019s devolution into, by my count, at least three attempted endings suggests some dithering over whether to deliver the logical conclusion to Jessica\u2019s sacrificial trajectory, or ease the transition to a possible sequel. As to which prevails, you\u2019ll have to use your imagination.<\/p>\n
Imaginary<\/strong>
Rated PG-13<\/a> for weaponized scissors and a gargantuan spider. Running time: 1 hour 44 minutes. In theaters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n