New in theatres this weekend is the latest film from the Blumhouse factory of horror, Imaginary. Directed by Blumhouse mainstay Jeff Wadlow (who also directed Fantasy Island and Truth or Dare for the company), Imaginary follows a proven formula that we have grown accustomed to from Blumhouse. Lower budget films that tend to borrow from other more well known horror properties, featuring casts of relative unknowns, aim to make back a small but tidy profit within the first two weeks of release and then slip away. It’s proven for a reason as these films still do remarkably well, with varying degrees of effectiveness, but at least Imaginary aims to have some fun along the way.

Jessica (DeWanda Wise) , a children’s book author who has always had a vivid imagination, is plagued by nightmares based on her creations. Jessica moves her blended family, husband Max (Tom Payne) and his two daughters, from his previous marriage Alice (Pyper Braun) and Taylor (Taegan Burns), into her family home after her father is placed into a care home. Upon arriving, young Alice starts conversing with an imaginary friend, which the family chalks up to her coping with all the changes her life has been going through, including an incident that left her arm scarred. But Jessica’s neighbour and former babysitter, Gloria (Betty Buckley) gives the family a warning. After that, the family notices that Alice’s friend may have a more malevolent nature and Jessica starts to realise that the answers to what happened may lie in her past.

Conveniently timed to arrive in theatres before the big budget summer release IF, which has a more family friendly take on the left behind imaginary friend, Imaginary is heavily influenced by some other films that have preceded it. Take Child’s Play, The Babadook, and Nightmare on Elms Street 3: Dream Warriors with a dash of Poltergeist on top, stick them in a blender and this is the result. 

And while the film feels overly familiar and there’s never a time where the audience doesn’t know exactly where the story is going, that doesn’t mean the film can’t have some fun along the way. One of Imagainary‘s biggest assets in this comes from the creature design and use of the effects budget. That budget seems higher here than in some other Blumhouse fare. The final sequence, while borrowing heavily from the aforementioned Elm Street film, is a well conceived and executed romp that features the offending creature Chauncey Bear in all his glory.

The cast here will be relatively new for most. Despite smaller turns in Jurassic Park: Dominion and The Harder they Fall, audiences aren’t likely to be too familiar with Wise, as this is her first major leading role. Perhaps the most instantly recognizable for horror fans will be Tom Payne from his stint on The Walking Dead, which may explain why he gets second billing here despite appearing in less than a third of the film. But the children here do a lot of the heavy lifting acting wise, and I dare say that the film would fail outright without the performance of Pyper Braun. As the conduit between Chauncey and the rest of the family, she has a lot of work to do and she excels. Taegan Burns also does solid work, even if it’s in a highly stereotypical disaffected teen role.

Imaginary doesn’t break any new ground at all, but with the theatres being overall a desolate place right now for new material, it should prove to be effective counter-programming. It’s the type of film that will be fine while you watch it but not likely to stay within the audience’s memory once watched, until they stumble across it on whatever streaming platform it lands on this summer that is. Audiences could do worse though, but ultimately this is the type of film best suited to throw on at home when you can slip in and out of it, because you won’t lose a beat.