Metacritic reviews

The Imaginary is an enchanting tale in which reality clashes with imagination in a battle to determine which is more powerful

Sometimes you watch a film and know the moment the credits roll that you've witnessed something special, one that will become a beloved favorite and be passed down for years to come. The Imaginary is that film for 2024, a breathtaking feat of animation with a powerful story that lends it to being a generational classic in the making.

You get wrapped up in the whimsy of it all just before it all hits you like a truck, finding plenty of resonant emotional flashbacks that contextualize and deepen the experience just in time for the conclusion.

This adaptation of A.F. Harrold’s 2014 children’s book is an appealing, emotionally engaging fantasy; the art direction is intricate and exquisite.

The Imaginary isn’t as visually or narratively rich as Mary and the Witch’s Flower, or as transcendent as Miyazaki projects like The Boy and the Heron. But it does feel like a move in the right direction for Ponoc, an effort at finding its own voice and its own footing.

The Imaginary fails to capitalisze on some great ideas and wonderful animation. While it will shine as one of the best-looking films of the year with its ambitious 2D animation, that gloss can only do so much for a story that abandons its most interesting elements for a tried and tired rendition of an animated fairytale.

For a film all about creative fancy, The Imaginary doesn’t always offer the kind of compelling moments one might expect. The fine animation can be blunted by a predilection for obvious exposition, dialogue that doesn’t stretch the imagination as much as it could.

There are moments of genuine magic that make you wonder what this movie could have been. But do they linger like that imaginary friend you’ll never forget? In this case, perhaps not.

This creatively unbound tale about imaginary friends is so determined to spirit you away that it soon loses any meaningful grip on reality.

Despite being a story about a world full of imagination and incredible adventures, the narrative moves slowly, hoping to succeed thanks to the animation.