IF (released in select territories as Imaginary Friends) is a 2024 live action/animated hybrid fantasy comedy drama film produced by Sunday Night Productions and Maximum Effort, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was released in theaters on May 17, 2024.
Sypnosis[1][]
From writer and director John Krasinski, IF is about a girl who discovers that she can see everyone’s imaginary friends — and what she does with that superpower — as she embarks on a magical adventure to reconnect forgotten IFs with their kids. IF stars Ryan Reynolds, John Krasinski, Cailey Fleming, Fiona Shaw, and the voices of Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Louis Gossett Jr. and Steve Carell alongside many more as the wonderfully unique characters that reflect the incredible power of a child’s imagination.
Plot[]
WARNING: This section contains spoilers for IF.
12-year-old Bea moves into her grandmother Margaret's apartment in New York while her father waits for heart surgery in the same hospital where her mother died of cancer years earlier. One night, Bea goes out to buy a charger for her mother's old camcorder and sees a strange creature, following it back to her grandmother's building. The next day, she sees the creature again, accompanied by a man. Bea follows them to a nearby house where the man, Cal, retrieves a large furry purple creature named Blue. She also meets the other creature, a butterfly-like being named Blossom, and faints.
She awakens in Cal's apartment where she learns that he has been working with imaginary friends, nicknamed IFs, to place them with new children, as their original children have grown up and forgotten them. Initially reluctant, Bea eventually decided she wants to help. The next day, Cal takes Bea to Memory Lane Retirement Home, a retirement community for IFs housed underneath a merry go round in Coney Island. There, he introduces Bea to Lewis, an elderly teddy bear who is the head of the facility. He inspires Bea to use her imagination to redesign the facility, much to Cal's chagrin. Motivated by a young boy, Benjamin, she met at the hospital, Bea auditions the IFs to find one for Benjamin. Sadly, he is unable to see any of them. Talking with her grandmother, she sees a picture of her as a young dancer and recognizes Blossom in the background of the picture. Realizing Blossom was her grandmother's IF, Bea decides that the best course of action is to reunite the IFs with their original kids. Playing one of her grandmother's records inspires Margaret to dance and she remembers Blossom, instilling Bea with hope.
Following a tip, Bea, Cal and Blue find Blue's original kid, Jeremy, now a grown man trying to launch a business. Though their initial attempt fails, Bea and Cal succeed in reminding Jeremy of Blue and reuniting them, giving Jeremy the confidence he needs. When Bea returns home that evening, however, Margaret is frantic and tells Bea that something went wrong with her father's operation. Bea rushes upstairs to Cal, who comforts her. When Bea says she doesn't want to say goodbye to her dad, Cal tells her to tell him a story instead. At the hospital, Bea tells her father of how she tried to be a grown-up but her father kept trying to bring fun into her life and that she still needs him, which wakes him up. Bea goes to tell her grandmother and realizes that the IFs have vanished.
After being released from the hospital, Bea and her dad pack up to go back home. Bea goes upstairs to say goodbye to Cal but no one answers the door. The landlady hears Bea knocking and reveals that the door opens onto an old storage room. While packing her things in the car, Bea finds an old picture she painted of her, her parents and a clown named Calvin and she suddenly remembers that Cal was her own IF, forgotten after the death of her mother. She closes her eyes and remembers, restoring her ability to see Cal.
Characters[]
- Cal
- Bea
- Grandmother
- Benjamin
- Bea's Dad
IFS[]
- Blue
- Blossom
- Lewis
- Unicorn
- Flower
- Alligator
- Robot
- Guardian Dog
- Magician Mouse
- Cosmo
- Art Teacher
- Bubble
- Octopuss
- Gummy Bear
- Slime
- Ghost
- Ice
- Spaceman
- Marshmallow
Reception[]
IF recieved mixed reviews from critics and audiences. On Rotten Tomatoes, 48% of critic reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.9/10.
"A sweet ode to rediscovering one's inner child, IF largely works as old-fashioned family entertainment despite an occasionally unfocused and unnecessarily complicated plot."
Box office[]
The film underperformed at the box office, grossing $111.1 million domestically and $79.2 million in other countries, equaling $190.3 million worldwide against its $110 million production budget. It made $3.3 million in France during its opening weekend, and was projected to gross $40 million from 4,041 theaters in its opening weekend in the United States and Canada. It opened with $33.7 million, becoming #1 at the domestic box office.