A woman returns to her childhood home, to discover that the imaginary friend she left behind is real and very unhappy about being abandoned. A film by Jeff Wadlow, starring DeWanda Wise, Tom Payne, Taegen Burns, Pyper Braun, Matthew Sato, Veronica Falcón, Samuel Salary, and Betty Buckley.

The film opens with a terrified woman fleeing a spider-like monster in her house. Her father suddenly appears and grasps her. In a horrifying twist, her father transforms into the monster itself. She flees in terror, but the hallway morphs into an endless corridor lined with countless locked doors. Desperate for refuge, she manages to open one door, revealing a bedroom. Hoping to hide, she rushes inside, but the monster follows, launching an attack. With a jolt, she wakes up, realizing it was a recurring nightmare she’d almost forgotten.

Married to musician Max (Tom Payne), children’s book author Jessica (DeWanda Wise) lives with Max in his apartment, along with his two daughters, Taylor (Taegen Burns) and Alice (Pyper Braun), from a previous marriage. Max suggests they move to Jessica’s childhood home a couple of days earlier than planned, and Jessica agrees.

Jessica unearths an old video recording from her childhood from one of her father’s boxes. While the video portrays a joyful young Jessica in this very house, her own memories remain hauntingly fuzzy. We can speculate that something unsettling happened here when she was five years old, forcing her to leave.

The next day, while playing hide-and-seek with Alice, Jessica receives a call from her publisher and steps outside the house to talk. Alice searches for Jessica, but instead hears a strange voice coming down from the basement. Following the voice, she finds a small door and behind it, a teddy bear. We, the audience, don’t hear the voice, but Alice does. She picks up the teddy bear, who introduces himself as Chauncey. Alice brings Chauncey back to her room.

Jessica finishes her call and finds Alice, apologizing for the work interruption and asking if she still wants to play. However, Alice tells Jessica she’s already found someone to play with. Jessica notices the teddy bear on Alice’s bed and assumes Alice wants to play with the stuffed toy.

In the evening, Jessica and Max overhear Alice talking to her imaginary friend named Chauncey.

The next evening, Jessica overhears Alice talking to her imaginary friend again. Attempting to capture it on video, Jessica chills with terror when she hears a woman’s voice responding to Alice. It turns out to be the girls’ mentally disturbed biological mother Samantha (Alix Angelis), who has escaped from a psychiatric ward and snuck into the house to see her daughters. Mistaking Jessica for a threat, Samantha attacks.

This scene is undeniably the film’s most terrifying moment, far surpassing any scares derived from the evil entity. It’s such a missed opportunity as the psychological horror route hinted at here could have been far more effective than the cheap puppet tricks and unconvincing CGI.

Initially, as a kid’s scavenger hunt game Alice claims Chauncey wants her to play, Jessica becomes increasingly worried when the game turns violent, requiring Alice to hurt herself. Jessica calls child psychiatrist Dr. Soto (Veronica Falcón) for help. During the session, Dr. Soto witnesses Alice talking to Chauncey, using her regular voice for herself and a distinct voice for Chauncey.

When Alice turns herself around, Dr. Soto is horrified to hear Chauncey’s voice continuing even though Alice’s mouth isn’t moving. The phrase “Never Ever” also sparks a chilling recognition in Dr. Soto, reminding her of a previous patient who used the same words before mysteriously disappearing.

Jessica, remembering the drawing she found in the her father’s box, goes to the basement and retrieves a drawing with the image of a door and the phrase “never Ever” written on it.

Realizing something sinister is at play, Jessica tells Dr. Soto they must destroy Alice’s stuffed bear. However, Dr. Soto appears confused, unsure what Jessica means.

Dr. Soto plays the video recording of Alice.’s session. Shockingly, there is no bear in the video. Jessica realizes with a jolt that she is the only person who can see it.

Directed by American filmmaker Jeff Wadlow, from a script he co-wrote with Greg Erb and Jason Oremland, IMAGINARY suffers from slow pacing.

Apart from the recurring nightmarish dream of the protagonist in the first three minutes, there’s nothing much interesting going on for the entire first 30 minutes of the film.

The dialogue sounds oddly unnatural, almost cringeworthy in several moments, making me wonder who talks like that in reality. Are they in a dream sequence?

Why is there a character who explains everything about the entity and the myth? It feels like the screenwriters underestimate the audience’s intelligence, assuming we wouldn’t be able to grasp what’s going on unless it’s explained in detail.

IMAGINARY isn’t quite as creative as its title suggests. Viewers will probably forget everything after the credits roll, just like the protagonist who conveniently forgot the malevolent entity that lured her into the Neverland realm when she was five years old. The film never explicitly explains how she forgot all that. Perhaps she was wiped or hypnotized as a child?

IMAGINARY was theatrically released in the United States on 8 March 2024.