In the battle of 2024 movies about “imaginary friends”, the “PG-13” horror flick Imaginary struck first in early March. It only took in $39 million worldwide, though with a small $10 million budget, it turned a profit.

IF arrived mid-May and looked like the more likely box office hit. A family friendly mix of fantasy and comedy from John Krasinski, it seemed as though it could become a hit.

Instead, IF landed in that murky realm that meant it didn’t flop but it also didn’t do especially well. With a $110 million budget, the film’s worldwide gross of $186 million meant it lost money in the long run.

Which doesn’t seem like a crime. A desperate attempt at a warm family flick, IF winds up as a misbegotten mess.

After 12-year-old Bea’s (Cailey Fleming) mother (Catharine Daddario) dies of cancer, she deals with another potential tragedy when her father (Krasinski) goes into the hospital for heart surgery. This sends her to stay with her grandmother Margaret (Fiona Shaw), though she visits her dad frequently.

Eventually Bea becomes aware that imaginary friends actually exist and like to be known as “IFs”. Cal (Ryan Reynolds) shepherds the IFs abandoned by their kids, so Bea joins him in an effort to find these lonely creatures new pals.

Based on both trailers and premise, I thought IF could offer an enjoyable tale. While it aimed mainly at a younger audience, it seemed like it would offer enough wit and cleverness for older viewers like myself as well.

Perhaps IF does work for that youthful target. For the more seasoned viewer, however, the movie becomes a massive disappointment.

Yikes - what a terrible film! From literally the very start, IF embraces one cliché after another and relies on far too many cheap tropes to engage.

For instance, as soon as we meet Bea’s happy happy happy family in her preschool days (Audrey Hoffman), we know her mom’s doomed. That’s Tacky Emotional Jolt 101: paint an idyllic childhood and kill off a parent, preferably the mother due to cancer.

Of course, Krasinski then doubles down on potential tragedy when he makes Bea’s dad ill as well. Does the movie need for Pop to suffer from a life-threatening condition?

Nope, as this choice exists as nothing more than a plot contrivance. I guess Dad’s hospitalization allows Bea the space to spend time with Cal and the IFs, but that decision actually makes little sense.

Essentially we need to accept that Bea’s grandma lets her wander New York City on her own at all hours without any restrictions or supervision. Really?

And that acts as one of the least problematic plot conveniences! IF comes with so many bad choices that I’d need a much larger hard drive to cover all of them.

Krasinski came up with a basic idea for a story but failed to flesh it out in any form of logical manner. Instead, he pours on cheap, gratuitous sentiment as well as more whimsy than this man could stand.

There's barely a narrative, as we just get a collection of aggressively heart-tugging or fanciful sequences that barely muster a connection. Krasinski clearly wants to out-Spielberg Spielberg, but there's no actual heart or charm here.

We just get one-dimensional characters and an incoherent "story" that lacks humor, warmth or entertainment. I really hoed IF would become a clever and witty fantasy, but instead, it delivers nothing more than a cloying and heavy-handed stab at fantasy.

Footnote: a brief tribute to a deceased actor appears after the end credits.

IF appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. The Dolby Vision presentation consistently looked pretty great.

Sharpness appeared positive. Overall, the film seemed distinctive and concise.

I noticed no issues with jagged edges or shimmering, and I witnessed no edge haloes. As expected, no source flaws popped up during the clean image.

IF opted for a palette in which amber/teal became the dominant tones, with splashes of other hues as well via the IFs.

Given those choices, the colors seemed appropriate. HDR added range and impact to these elements.

Blacks were deep, and shadows satisfied. HDR brought strength to whites and contrast. All of this added up to a solid “A-” image.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, I also felt pleased with the Dolby Atmos audio of IF. Despite the movie’s fantasy focus, the soundscape didn’t come across as consistently dazzling.

However, sporadic sequences popped to life well. Unsurprisingly, segments with the IFs opened up matters at times, especially when some action elements emerged.

In addition, general atmosphere felt appropriate and engaging. Within its choices, the soundscape impressed.

Audio quality was positive. Speech seemed natural and concise, without edginess or other issues.

Effects appeared accurate and dynamic, while music was rich and clear. Nothing here created a killer soundtrack, but the audio made sense for the story and worked fine for a light fantasy tale.

Six featurettes appear, and The Imagination Behind IF runs five minutes, 21 seconds. It provides notes from writer/director John Krasinski, producer Allyson Seeger, director of photography Janusz Kaminski, visual effects supervisor Chris Lawrence, executive producer John J. Kelly, and actors Ryan Reynolds, Fiona Shaw, Cailey Fleming, and Bobby Moynihan.

“Imagination” covers the movie’s origins and development, Krasinski’s work on the shoot, story and themes. A few insights emerge but “Imagination” largely feels fluffy.

Imagining Imaginary Friends goes for five minutes, 18 seconds. It involves Krasinski, Reynolds, Shaw, Lawrence, Fleming, animation supervisor Arslan Elver, and actor Alan Kim.

Here we look at the design and creation of the IFs. A good collection of notes emerges.

Next comes Giving IFs a Voice. It spans five minutes, 49 seconds and features Krasinski, Reynolds, Seeger, and Kelly.

As the title implies, this one examines the voice actors and their performances. I like shots from recording sessions but too much of the reel just praises the participants.

Blending the Real and the Imaginary spans five minutes, 31 seconds. It delivers info from Krasinski, Kaminski, Reynolds, Seeger, Lawrence, Kelly, Fleming, Shaw, and Elver.

During this piece, we learn about various effects used in the film. Though not a deep exploration, we stll get a nice view of these elements.

After this we go to Tina Turner Forever. In this three-minute, 31-second reel, we hear from Krasinski, Reynolds, Fleming, Seeger, Kaminski, and Lawrence.

Here we get notes about the movie’s recreation of an 80s music video. It gives us a few decent notes but stays fairly mediocre.

For the final featurette, we get The Imaginative World of IF. It occupies six minutes, one second with statements from Krasinski, Reynolds, Kaminski, Fleming, Seeger, Moynihan, Shaw, Kelly, production designer Jess Gonchor, and costume designer Jenny Eagan.

“World” covers shooting in NYC locations as well as sets, and costumes. The show digs into these domains fairly well.

A Gag Reel goes for three minutes, 53 seconds and offers the usual goofs and giggles. Nothing great arrives, though I do like the view of some shots pre-visual effects.

Finally, Learn to Draw runs six minutes, 37 seconds and provides a tutorial in which two unnamed representatives of “Art for Kids Hub” teach us how to sketch Blue. Kids may enjoy this.

A clumsy and self-conscious attempt to create a “family classic”, IF flops. The film begs us to love it and turns us off in the process. The 4K UHD comes with strong picture and audio as well as a decent roster of bonus materials. A star-studded affair with the potential to deliver a winning project, IF ends up as a sickly-sweet disappointment.