IF
Directed by John Krasinski
- comedy
- fantasy
- family
The story
After discovering she can see everyone's imaginary friends, a girl embarks on a magical adventure to reconnect forgotten imaginary friends with their kids.
What it’s like
Bright, saturated daylight gives way to a warm, storybook palette, with the live-action New York streets rendered in soft, slightly overexposed sun and the imaginary-friend world tipping into hand-drawn colour and glowing, dreamlike pastels. Camera work stays handheld and intimate in the human scenes, close on faces and small domestic gestures, then opens into sweeping animated-feeling compositions when the creatures appear. Sound leans on bouncy, sentimental orchestral swells and playful pop cues, with bursts of silliness in the creature gags and quieter, tender beats in the family moments. The vibe is sunny, bittersweet and gently whimsical, and the pacing is brisk and episodic, built for a relaxed afternoon, a family movie night, or a comfort watch when you want something light with a warm ache underneath. Its people's arcs follow a grieving, withdrawn child slowly reopening to connection and an adult learning to remember what he set aside. Violence is absent, peril is mild and cartoonish, and the emotional lows are sad rather than frightening; there is some crude, gentle humour and a few tearjerking moments. It suits people who want a warm, funny, heartfelt fantasy that feels like being a kid again.
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