Sketch (2024)
Summary
Sketch is a family friendly psychological “horror” adventure movie produced by Angel Studios. The story follows a widowed father, Taylor, and his two children, Jack and Amber, as they navigate the grief that has followed their recent loss. Amber’s dark, expressive drawings step into the real world when Jack discovers a pond with the mystical ability to bring things to life. In a story of healing, sass, and glitter-covered bogeys the Wyatts must learn to navigate their grief in a healthy way…and defeat giant monsters using really cool swords.
Assessment
The overall quality of Sketch is incredibly high. From the cinematography to the acting to the editing, CGI, and writing, the story is well-created and witty. While it does suffer from some pacing and minor plot issues — similar to the struggles Sight had last year — the overall story flow is smooth and engaging to the audience. the characters are relatable (sometimes in strange ways) and from the adults to the children each actor played their part with amazing emotional impact.
The movie’s overall message is not overtly Christian, but plenty of good, Christian values can be seen throughout the story. From the way the Wyatt family navigates their mutual trauma and recent emotional upheaval to the forgiveness, love, and mercy that they show one another all point to a very Christian way of handling things.
The CGI was a little rough in places, but that actually played well into the story’s overall concept of the sketchy, glitter-filled style of horror. The monsters were incredibly imaginative, following no real rhyme or reason in design except a chaotic straight-out-of-the-mind-of-a-child kind of aesthetic.
Light-o-Meter
Writing: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Filmmaking: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Acting: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Age-Appropriateness: Appropriate for intended audiences; peril, cartoonish frightening scenes, and some cussing.
Theological Message: N/A
Overall: 5 out of 6 Little Lights
Talk
I’ll be honest, I enjoyed this movie a lot more than I thought I was going to. I’m not the hugest horror — or, in this case “horror-adjacent” — fan and the trailers revealed nothing about the actual heart of the movie, so I kind of shrugged it off. I was, however, incredibly wrong in that dismissal and feel slightly obligated to apologize. This is one of the sweetest, warmest, and most emotionally mature movies I’ve ever seen. And it’s got a whole bunch of really cute monsters (although I do also think Godzilla is cute…so I might not be the best judge of that…).
Without spoiling anything, the characters in this movie are not only relatable, but also earnest in their desire to express themselves and heal. In that, some of the elements of their emotional journeys are a little cliched, but the way the characters handled themselves is refreshing in an era of stories where the “healing journeys” are 90% needless drama, 6% “meaningful” but empty quotes, and 4% actual healing. Sketch felt like people who actually, genuinely love each other and are genuinely doing what they can to make the best of a bad situation.
I also do want to say that, while I am putting this movie in the “horror” genre, it has more to do with the tropes it used and less to do with how scary the movie actually was. It’s not something I’d recommend to little kids, but I think the movie’s rating of +10 years old is sufficient, especially if they are not a particularly sensitive kid. There is some cussing (mostly just ‘d**m’ or uses of ‘hell’), however, Angel Studios is offering two versions of the movie, one with cussing and one without so it can be adapted to any family or parents’ preferences.
Where to Enjoy
Watch Sketch streaming on Angel Studios now!
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