IF Review

IF is a family film that shows a young girl navigating the hidden world of Imaginary Friends in New York City.

Bea (Cailey Fleming) is a 12-year-old girl who moves into her grandmother’s (Fiona Shaw) apartment as her father (John Krasinski) is taken into hospital. Whilst living at her grandmother’s, Bea comes across some strange creatures and Calvin (Ryan Reynolds), a grumpy man who lives in the apartment on the top floor. These creatures are Imaginary Friends (IFs for short) whose children have grown up and forgotten about them. Bea offers to help Calvin find the IFs new children.

IF seems to be a high-risk film in this current climate. It’s a big-budget family film that’s not based on any existing property or franchise. Hollywood has become too dependent on franchise films, even an auteur-led hit like Barbie needed a recognisable brand so it could get attention. IF offered something that Hollywood needed, originality.

IF was written and directed by John Krasinski, who made his name as a filmmaker with the first two Quiet Place films. The Quiet Place duology was a tense set of horror films that showed a family surviving an apocalyptic event. IF goes in a different direction by being a wholesome family film with a light tone and sense of whimsy.

The film came across as a combination of Pixar and A Monster Call since they were all emotional experiences. IF was especially a live-action Pixar film since IF focused on a young character who meets loads of cartoony characters and can go off into a world where the only limitations were Bea’s imagination. It was a film that wanted to celebrate creativity and childhood. The best Pixar films have been able to pull on the heartstrings, like Jessie’s heartbreaking backstory, Wall-E wanting to be loved, Carl’s relationship with Ellie, Bing Bong’s sacrifice, and Miguel reawakening his great-grandmother’s memories.

Story wise IF was more closely aligned to A Monster Call and My Neighbour Totoro. All these stories focused on young characters dealing with their parents’ illnesses and end up in a world of fantasy to be able to cope. A Monster Call was a bleak film as its main character suffered from his mother’s terminal illness and being bullied at school. and saw a monster who told him stories and allowed the boy to act out. IF was a lighter film due to the tone.  The characters were more comedic than in A Monster Calls. Bea’s dad kept making jokes despite needing heart surgery, and Calvin’s humour came from his grumpy persona.

Bea was a girl who was forced to grow up fast. Her mother died of cancer when she was young, and her dad was in hospital. Bea’s grandmother prepared some art supplies for her granddaughter because Bea drew when she was younger, and Bea responded by saying she wasn’t a kid anymore. The drive of the story was Bea discovering her childhood again. Bea got to perform a big dance number and go to an amusement park in Coney Island filled with IFs.

IF was a film that needed an excellent performance from its young star, and it got that with its lead. Cailey Fleming has been working as a child actor for many years and is best known for playing Judith in The Walking Dead. Fleming played a kind and likeable character as she interacted with the IFs, adults, and younger children, and was able to show an emotional rawness when things went bad. She held her own working with some acclaimed actors and CGI characters who wouldn’t have been on set. The final third of the film did have me struggling to hold back some tears and a lot of it was due to Fleming’s performance.

Along with Bea’s personal issues, IF looked at the power of memories and nostalgia. When Bea arrived in New York she said she had memories of being at her grandmother’s and being around Coney Island. It awakens something that had been forgotten. Bea, along with Calvin and the IFs set out to help people regain their childhood memories and they get a warm, glowing feeling because of it.

IF was a delightful family that celebrated childhood and imagination, whilst also having some serious issues just below the surface. It will cause beaming smiles and floods of tears in equal measure.