John Krasinski’s latest film IF couldn’t be further from his previous efforts seen in the Quiet Place series. What seems to be written as something his own kids would enjoy, IF is a heartwarming tale of imaginary friends just trying to find their way in life.
Cailey Fleming stars as Bea, a young girl who has lost her mother, and now faces possibly losing her dad (John Krasinski) to illness. Despite her dad’s crazy antics, which he creates to make sure she has a childhood, all Bea wants is to be a grown up – that is, until she starts seeing displaced imaginary friends. Teaming up with her neighbour Cal (Ryan Reynolds), Bea goes on a mission to match forgotten imaginary friends up with new children.
Cailey Fleming perfectly encapsulates the kid who’s had to grow up too fast – which plays off well against Ryan Reynolds’ typical sarcastic cynicism. Rounding out the human cast is the wonderful Fiona Shaw (who can do no wrong) as Bea’s grandmother, Alan Kim (Minari) as the adorable Benjamin, and The Bear‘s Liza Colón-Zayas as nurse Janet.
Steve Carrell heads up the animated IFs as the big, lovable Blue – the main source of laughs throughout the film. Supporting is Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Blossom, and Louis Gossett Jr as Lewis, amongst a slew of characters voiced by Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Sam Rockwell and Jon Stewart, to name a few. All IFs are more wonderful than the last; all with their own touching back stories.
What starts off as a seemingly cheerful film, takes its turns throughout the film – throwing life’s curveballs at the characters nonstop. While the film can tend to have its slower moments, it makes up for this in heart and in its wholesomeness – which it delivers in droves. There’s a few key moments in the film that had us in tears – also not wanting to grow up (damn you, Krasinski).
While it’s maybe not necessarily a film for little kids, IF has plenty of charm and relatable moments sprinkled throughout to make it an adventure for the whole family.