Following the widespread audience success with the Five Nights at Freddy’s (FNAF) movie, the production studio Blumhouse went to work on another film. According to the IMDb page, the trailer was mostly black with just audio from the movie so that I could “imagine” what was happening. Audiences were guessing whether the movie was going to be a continuation of the previous FNAF movie or if it was going to be an original idea altogether. It ended up being the latter, because on March 8th, 2024, Imaginary was released.
Imaginary follows Jessica, a storybook writer who had recently moved into her childhood home with her recently married husband Max and her two step-daughters: Taylor and Alice. After Max leaves on a work trip, Alice finds a teddy bear in a little room in the basement, which she names Chauncey. Jessica finds this adorable, seeing that her step-daughter has something to be happy about after making such a big move. But Alice’s play sessions start becoming more sinister. Soon, Jessica finds out that Chauncey the Bear and her childhood home aren’t as innocent as they seem.
Ok so I went to go see this movie with a friend and we both agreed that it was one of the most mid-tier movies we’ve ever seen. What makes me sad personally is that this movie had the potential to be great, with such an original concept and good visuals. But the acting came up short and the writing, oh God, the writing. You could see every “twist” a mile away. The jumpscares were pretty cheap and you could find better on YouTube with analogue horror (watch the Mandela Catalogues and Vita Carnis). The ONE person that died ended up being the twist villain, and I predicted both!
In short, this movie wasn’t what the first trailer made it up to be. It was a good idea to let audiences use their imagination for a movie called “Imaginary”, but it was kind of counter-intuitive because my imagination made me think it was going to be good. Watch this movie with your friends to make fun of it, because that was the only enjoyment I got out of it.
