As a researcher who has studied imaginary friends for over a decade, I found The Imaginary very heartwarming
There has been a recent spate of movies about imaginary friends. In the winter, I watched Imaginary, a horror flick about a sinister imaginary friend. By spring, IF had introduced us to a group of invisible characters, and now summer has arrived with The Imaginary on Netflix. The Imaginary is nothing like either of the previous movies. It is animated, which enables the viewer to see beautifully crafted imagined landscapes. And where the horror film Imaginary was clearly geared toward adults and IF toward tweens, this movie would be enjoyed by any age group. It takes an in-depth look at children’s imaginations though the lens of a boy named Rudger, who is the imaginary friend of Amanda. Rudger goes on adventures and has a life of his own trying to outwit and escape another human with an evil imaginary friend – or “imaginary companion” as researchers often refer to them, since they are not always friendly. Few humans can see Rudger and his crew, of course, which causes some interesting problems and innovative solutions between the real and imaginary realms.
