The new movie from Blumhouse, the genre-defining masterminds behind Five Nights at Freddy’s and M3GAN, comes an original horror that taps into the innocence of imaginary friends – and begs the question: are they really figments of childhood imagination or is something more terrifying lying just beneath?
Jessica (played by DeWanda Wise) moves back into her childhood home along with her family. Her youngest stepdaughter, Alice (Pyper Braun), discovers a stuffed bear named Chauncey in the basement and becomes unnaturally attached to it. At first, Alice’s interactions with Chauncey seem harmless, but gradually, her games with the bear become darker and more disturbing.
As Alice’s behaviour becomes more concerning, Jessica intervenes only to realize that Chauncey is much more than the stuffed toy bear she believed him to be.
What I was hoping for with Imaginary was a nice shocker that would make me jump, but sadly the movie falls short when it comes to the jump scares (unless you are of a nervous disposition), the opening scene for the movie gave it good promise with some nice creature design and the idea of something sinister to come, but then after that, the movie runs at a snail’s pace.
The premise for Imaginary is a great idea that could have been a nice little horror, but Chauncey the bear is just that, a bear! As the story unfolds about Jessica’s past and that something evil in the realm of imaginary friends is taking hold of Alice we plod through the the movie with some of the usual tropes of modern-day horror movies with loud noises and the occasional moment of something in the darkness.
The hope of something more kept me watching, even though I did have times when I wondered how much longer the movie had to go and at one point found myself drifting off. I have to say that the creature design for the final Chauncey was impressive and took me back to those days of the ’80s and ’90s horrors when we didn’t have CGI and the creatures were someone in a physical suit.
Overall I was disappointed with Imaginary even 
Tom Payne’s role seemed to be just a short cameo placed in the movie to pull in fans, although Pyper Braun who plays Alice was good in her role.
If you are someone who jumps at the slightest loud noise then this will probably be a movie that you will enjoy, but if you are a die-hard horror fan then this is a movie that you may want to wait until it arrives on one of the streaming platforms.
Does Imaginary Have a Post Credits Scene?
No Imaginary doesn’t have a post-credits screen, although it does have the Chauncey theme at the end, so maybe Chauncey will be back, who knows?