John Krasinski is known for his successful Quiet Place movies and seemingly has the freedom to create whatever he desires. In this case, his most recent endeavour is directed towards a younger audience, or perhaps a family-friendly audience. Janusz Kamiński, who regularly partners with filmmaker Steven Spielberg, is the cinematographer of this project and Spielberg’s impact on the film is unmistakable.
The movie itself has a humble position compared to Spielberg’s ET, despite the similar titles, yet a shared generosity and respect for the essence of childhood encompass both. What seems to be absent in this film however, is the assuredness to venture into the supernatural realm. It feels as though it pulls the audience back into reality too frequently.
The plot orbits around young Bea, dealing with her father’s imminent heart surgery and coming to terms with mortality, after her mother’s death. Staying with her grandmother in Brooklyn Heights, New York, she discovers a doorway into alternate realities. This element reminds one of traditional British children’s literature, such as Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden, as much as Spielberg’s suburban stories.
Cailey Fleming, who portrayed the young Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, delivers an exceptional performance as little Bea. Krasinski produces an engaging performance as a father, whose concern appears to be more focused towards Bea’s emotional wellbeing rather than his own serious medical condition. Fiona Shaw, often underutilised in large studio films, brilliantly embodies the loving yet eccentric grandmother with a hidden ambition of becoming a dancer. Kamiński’s cinematography bathing this segment in a nostalgic, warm-hued light leaves us yearning for more.
However, the crux of the movie revolves around something else. The movie title ‘If’ is not just a conjunction but can also be an acronym for “imaginary friend”. It turns out the coordinators of the IF system operate from an vacant apartment situated above Bea’s grandma’s home.
In their endeavour to cultivate a plethora of supernatural creatures – gargantuan blob-like entities, peculiar insectoids, congenial reptilian beings – they match these oddities to the distinct inclinations of various children. Their time is also committed to caring for IFs, or Imaginary Friends, abandoned by children growing past innocent whimsy. Imagine offspring playing in the sandbox one day, only to lure an unsuitable fancy into the bike shed’s cove the next.
Playing the role of the IF overseer, Ryan Reynolds tries to rise above the dreary management lingo, albeit without much success. It would be fair to relate the sentiment coursing through this concept to the emotional undertows that fuelled the Toy Story saga: a peculiar creature finds itself at the mercy of time’s unforgiving impact on guiltless children. The filmmakers’ inability to infuse any endearment into the toys – or rather, the imaginary friends – forms a major hiccup. Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s acoustics fail to render her semi-human, semi-butterfly entity any less unsettling than its description implies. Monsters, Inc. bears too marked a resemblance in the voice of the colossal azure creature by Steve Carell.
A cast cram-full of renowned celebrities – namely Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Sam Rockwell and Jon Stewart – led by Ryan Reynolds, marginally improve negative impressions with their portrayals of robots, octopuses, dogs and mice. A central musical number fails to stand up to the rest of the narrative with its irrelevancy ruining any sense of story progression. And such were the negative high points.
However, despite the confusion, If’s emotional climax layers a poignant touch on the fantastical chaos. It vacillates between heartwarming and exasperation. If is set to hit the cinemas starting Friday, the 17th of May.