Sketch is a fun film that I think could have been improved with some script revisions and editing. It has a lot going for it; I saw it at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), and the presenter mentioned that director Seth Worley has experience in visual effects, and it shows.
This film—the fourth of its kind featuring imaginary creatures brought to life in 2024, weird, right?!—has some truly impressive computer graphics creations. The film may have a low budget, but the art style of these creatures lends itself well to simple creations. They have texture and make sense within the context of the story, and are, without a doubt, the best thing about the film.
Director: Seth Worley
Writer: Seth Worley
Stars: Tony Hale, D'Arcy Carden, Bianca Belle
Tony Hale is also very good in this film; it's nice to see him in a leading role, and I think he plays this character—a grieving single father—quite well. He seems to be the most balanced character, despite the film's typically sarcastic script; Hale has many great sentimental moments.
The film also has a good message and manages to connect quite tightly, as I think all good family films should. It explores complex emotions with great skill. It's a film that isn't afraid to be unsettling at times and truly recalls what family movies of old were like; often tinged with darkness, because in the end, life isn't all rosy.
I think what bothered me most about this film was the script. It's a funny movie, yes, but you know when someone can't tone it down and just keeps telling jokes all day, to the point of being exhausting? I feel like Sketch has that problem. There are also a LOT of "wait, did you just say __?" jokes that occur well into the final act and, after a while, I found them tiresome.
The film also has children. Lots. Two of them, the boy and girl protagonists, are fine. Still, they can't avoid the film's overly "MCU" tendencies, winking and joking at every opportunity. But there's a kid, Bowman, who appears on screen for too long and I find him incredibly unpleasant at the end of the film. Sorry, he's not a great actor and doesn't know how to interact with the CGI creatures. There's a scene where he's supposed to be covered in them, where it's clear he doesn't really know what he's seeing, and it's very annoying.
There was also a noticeable issue with the sound; too loud and too quiet at times. Maybe it was my theater, but I suspect it was the mix. I feel like the film's soundtrack was pretty bad; it never captured the tone it was supposed to go for and reminded me more of Evil Dead Rise than anything else... which just didn't fit.
Overall, it's a fun film and reminded me a lot of family adventure films from the '80s, '90s, and early 2000s. We definitely need more of that, but this is a debut film and has the hallmarks of a director to watch, but one who's clearly just getting started.
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