Directed by: Seth Worley
Starring: Tony Hale, D’Arcy Carden, Bianca Belle
Release Date: August 6, 2025
Runtime: 1h 32m
Film Rating: PG 
My Rating:
When a young girl’s sketchbook falls into a strange pond, her drawings come to life-chaotic, real, and on the loose. As the town descends into chaos, her family must reunite and stop the monsters they never meant to unleash.1
But Biggs, how did you see a movie before it’s in the theater and it’s not streaming anywhere? AMC Theaters has a really cool program called “Screen Unseen“. I have a Stubs Premiere membership, but I don’t know if that’s required. It only costs $6 per person, and the only thing you know about the movie is the film’s rating. They will tell you if it’s a horror movie (which are called “Scream Unseen”).
Biggs’ Review
My wife described this movie the best as a “kids’ horror movie”. I had previously seen the trailer for this movie, so I knew what we were watching 30 seconds into the film. I knew it was a movie distributed by Angel, so I was excited to see one of their films in the theater.
Side Note: Angel is known for some pretty good movies like Sound of Freedom and Homestead. I highly recommend checking out their films.
My wife did not enjoy the movie, but she doesn’t like horror or horror-like films (technically this movie isn’t a horror film). I think it is well done. The acting is great, especially Tony Hale. His comedic timing and expressions were awesome. All the kids do a fantastic job as well. The script isn’t bad, and the story is pretty good; there’s an important, underlying message.
**Mild spoilers ahead**
The movie is about loss and grieving. The young girl, played by Bianca Belle, expresses her grief by sketching. However, her sketches are dark and mildly disturbing, so when they “come alive”, it’s not good. The end of the film provides a great message about dealing with the loss of a loved one.
My only real complaint is that I would never take my kid to see this movie (and I’m glad she didn’t accompany us). Some kids are overly sensitive to suspense and “scary images”, and she would have been upset by this movie. A PG rating feels misleading, as well as the listed categories (Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy). Perhaps if they didn’t try so hard to be like a horror movie without actually being a horror movie. Does that even make sense?
I would not have paid to see this movie in the theater. I would have waited for it to show up on a streaming service.
“The screen is a magic medium. It has such power that it can retain interest as it conveys emotions and moods that no other art form can hope to tackle.”
– Stanley Kubrick
- Taken from IMDB plot summary ↩︎
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