If there’s anything I’ve learned from Blumhouse Pictures movie Imaginary, it’s that we don’t talk enough. The horror genre is full of so much mystery around the evil being faced. There’s also a lot of denial. But what if we actually talk to each other? What if when that serial killer that’s coming after us, we sit down and try to figure out who it is? Or that demon that has haunted us, what if we tell our loved ones what we saw? Things would be solved way faster and the movie would be over. But what if it wasn’t over? What if talking to each other to solve what’s going on with the big bad, leads to new ways of storytelling? That’s what I feel with Imaginary.
To be crystal clear, I don’t think that Imaginary is re-inventing horror. It’s a pretty basic film that kind of reads like a book. While watching, I couldn’t help but think that I would totally devour this kind of book. After all, the most powerful thing when it comes to horror is how we imagine the monsters within these books. And this movie is pretty cookie-cutter and predictable from start to finish. Keeping that all in mind, it does push into uncharted territory where the people in the movie talk about what they saw, confront the monster, and don’t end up having a sad ending where they sacrifice themselves for the rest of the family. They themselves are rescued by said family and get to live happily ever after. And I want to see more movies like that because I’m sick and tired of the plot twist where the bad thing got them. Now that is predictable. Happy endings aren’t.
Besides Imaginary making me realize that 100% of horror movies could be solved by talking, I really enjoyed having DeWanda Wise as the lead. I have personally never heard of this actress and now I will be thoroughly going through her IMDb to see what she’s up to or what she has done. But just like my post the other day about Breathe, we are in desperate need of horror movies with Black leads. Because if there’s anything that Hollywood likes to do when it comes to showcasing any minority story is by leaning into stereotypes, often harmful ones. And the horror genre is absolutely guilty of that if we look back to the running gag that if you’re a Black character in horror, the chances of you dying skyrocket. Which, if you’re looking for a movie that looks at that stereotype right in the face and flips it the bird, I would suggest watching The Blackening.
Imaginary went and fleshed out Jessica’s story in welcome and unexpected ways. It made her a mom to an interracial marriage and the children that came with it. We also got to see Jessica’s career and how art had always been such a pivotal thing in her life that it led her to a career making children’s books. We also got to see her and a white picket fence kind of neighborhood, that horror movies have statistically only made a residence for its white stereotypical leads. Jessica was just living her life. Everything wasn’t perfect when it came to Jessica’s storyline though. We got to see her as a child, have joyous moments with her mom, and the aftermath of confronting that monster when it destroyed her dad. And it would have been great if there were more Black characters along for the ride with Jessica. Contrary to popular belief, more than one minority can be the central focus of a story. And I’m saying this as someone who isn’t Black, but who is sick and tired of watching movies with Latinas, where there can’t be more than one of us. There can be.
I can’t finish this review without talking about the special effects of this movie. I think that Imaginary found a really good balance between letting our imagination set the tone of how malicious Chauncey was. The bear was simple and something any kid would own. And I like the buildup to whatever this demon was. I do think though that the giant bear monster was something straight out of a nightmare, so A+ for making that fever dream come alive. But there were some things like the spider eyes and that ghost-like face that almost got Jessica, that just didn’t work for me. It was a little too cheesy and it made it seem like the demon could transform into multiple things. So I wasn’t sure if it was a teddy bear or a spider. Or maybe it was just everything because of imagination.
Ultimately, Imaginary was cookie-cutter with a dash of making me contemplate something fresh for the horror genre. And that last bit, having me think about what I love and what this genre can do better, makes it more worthwhile than plenty of horror movies that I’ve seen lately. And that’s saying a lot.
Imaginary is now playing in theaters.
