‘One day, It’s going to make a hell of a story.’

A personal project for writer-director John Krasinski, nearly two decades in the making, IF (short for Imaginary Friends) is the story of Bea (Cailey Fleming). She’s in New York for the summer, as her father (Krasinski) receives medical treatment. It’s déjà vu for Bea, the same thing happened a few years ago when her mother died of cancer. Encouraged by her father to make the most of the summer, she finds herself able to see IFs who have long-since been forgotten by their human friends. And so she decides to work with Cal (Ryan Reynolds), Blossom (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) and Blue (Steve Carell) to run an adoption agency.

Ultimately, IF feels very admirable and sweet but also overloaded yet slight. Fleming is wonderful in the lead role, definitely a young actor to watch – considering the high levels of CG, she’s naturalistic and believable. With a lot of emotional heavy-lifting to do, she’s subtle and expressive – emoting hugely with her eyes, almost reminiscent of a younger Saoirse Ronan. The voicecast of the IFs is insane –

Ultimately, IF feels very admirable and sweet but also overloaded yet slight. Fleming is wonderful in the lead role, definitely a young actor to watch – considering the high levels of CG, she’s naturalistic and believable. With a lot of emotional heavy-lifting to do, she’s subtle and expressive – emoting hugely with her eyes, almost reminiscent of a younger Saoirse Ronan. The voicecast of the IFs is insane – Awkwafina, Emily Blunt, George Clooney, Maya Rudolph and Sam Rockwell are just a few of the list. It’s a joy to listen out for them and guess who’s-who.

The biggest problem the film faces is it’s story, or relative lack therefore of. There are no stakes and no urgency propelling things along, the IFs are at risk of disappearing if they don’t find a human friend. Sort of? Maybe? At undisclosed future time? It’s undefined, as is much of the film’s plot points and overall mythology. Lots of things are underdeveloped and unexplained, which become a huge barrier to emotionally investing into proceedings. Whilst there’s some sweet set pieces, they try and throw everything at it to make it stick, making the film little more than a sum of its parts.

Undercooked yet overbaked, it’s not fast-paced enough for kids nor witty enough for adults.

[3/5 stars]

IF is in UK cinemas now.