From Studio Ponoc, comes an emotionally devastating animation in the form of The Imaginary. 2024 is oddly becoming the year of the imaginary friend, and The Imaginary is easily the best take on the premise. Beautifully drawn animation enhances the experience, expressing the world and characters through the work of paint. 

 

Based on A.F. Harrold and illustrator Emily Gravett’s 2014 novel, The Imaginary explores the idea behind the imaginary friend, better known as “Imaginaries”. What happens when the host has forgotten about their friend? Do they vanish from existence or find a way to continue on? 

 

When you match the beautiful handcrafted animation with the overly expressive voices, it can bring a charm to the entire picture. Louie Rudge-Buchanan (Rudger) and Evie Kiszel (Amanda), along with a majority of the voice cast have such an attribute to them, but with one dubbed actor, it unfortunately falls flat. Luckily this particular character is only in the film for a short period of time so it doesn’t remove much from the overall takeaway, but it is worth noting its existence.

 

The film is a remarkably deep premise that showcases multiple pieces to the puzzle of what can happen when it’s an imaginary friend’s time to part. The indescribable friendship connecting our leads Rudger (Imaginary) and Amanda (Real), leads to much heartshed throughout the film in their possible separation. The friends Rudger meets along the way in ‘The Town of the Imaginaries’ are an expansive catalog of creatures and beings only one could conjure up with such imagination. Alongside Rudger is another humanistic lifeform that leads the town in their survival. Rudger quickly becomes friendly with the inhabitants and things become more dangerous the longer he stays. 

 

Especially with a hunter of the Imaginaries looming around every corner, looking to remove them from reality. In the dubbed version, this eerie man - Mr. Bunting is played by the fantastic Ted Lasso alum, Jeremy Swift. He’s over the top and clearly insane. Swift does a terrific portrayal of a man grappling with his sanity, who believes he can control the rift between imagination and reality. A true threat that tends to sneak up on the least expecting. 

 

Yoshiyuki Momose’s The Imaginary wears its heart courageously on its sleeve. While moments may play stiffer than intended, Yoshiaki Nishimura’s wonderfully dark fairy tale manages to emerge triumphant from the shadows of Hayao Miyazaki’s legendary pictures.