I remember being a child and how different everything seemed to me back then. I would play hide and go seek tag at recess, have lunch with my friends and go outside after school to play with the other neighborhood kids my age. I also remember there would be days when I would play with my imaginary friends at recess, have lunch with them or go on water slides together at the local waterpark. I had a slew of imaginary friends I would hang out with until one day I didn’t have recess anymore so they’d be on the playground alone. My focus shifted to playing video games, seeing movies with friends and applying to college but what happened to my imaginary friends as I grew up?
“IF” (2024) is a story about what happens when children grow up and don’t need their imaginary friends (IFs) anymore. A young 12-year-old girl, Bea (Cailey Fleming), is forced to grow up after losing her mom (Catharine Daddario) to cancer and her dad (John Krasinski) is in the hospital with a broken heart. One night she sees a big purple creature who goes by the name Blue (Steve Carrell) with a man named Cal (Ryan Reynolds) and realizes she can see everyone’s imaginary friends, after she learns about the forgotten IFs, Bea and Cal team up to help the IFs reunite with their kids.
Krasinski, the writer and director, reminds the audience what it is like to be a child with a story that will make them laugh, cry and regress into a more child-like way of thinking. He reminds the adults in the audience what it is like to see things through the eyes of a child.
Michael Giacchino composes a whimsical score that helps bring childhood magic to the big screen while bringing an emotional tone to create a powerful story through music.
Fleming does a great job at portraying a girl struggling with growing up at too young an age. She acts like a grown-up when first introduced but slowly throughout the story, the child inside her shines through the grown-up facade. She is the stand-out of the movie when it comes to acting. Reynolds plays his classic character through a lot of the film which doesn’t take away from the movie but doesn’t necessarily add it either, but there are certain times when Reynolds does bring something extra to the film. Reynolds and Felming’s characters play very well off of each other which is a strong point of the acting.
The voice cast for this film is huge with big names such as Carrell, Emily Blunt, George Clooney, Bradley Cooper, Matt Damon, Bill Hader, Keegan-Michael Key, Blake Lively, Maya Rudolph and many more. Some of the characters are not the most memorable but others such as Carell knock it out of the park with their performance.
“IF” awakens the child inside of everyone and reminds all of us that even though we grow up, we don’t have to let the child inside of us fade away. We can still go on adventures, have fun, make jokes and dance like no one is watching. I absolutely loved this movie to kick off the summer. While it may not be a cinematic masterpiece that will win Oscars, it is certainly a fun movie that will make the audience smile and maybe even cry. “IF” is available to watch exclusively in theaters with a rating of 4 out of 5 film reels.
Sentient Studios 