Cinema

IMAGINARY (2024)


Meet Chauncey.
He’s not Imaginary,
And he’s not your friend.

The team at Blumhouse are amassing a veritable who’s who of malevolent and iconic horror villains that are probably being lined up to meet up in the not too distant future, either battling each other in the style of Jason vs Freddy or in a supervillains vs all humans stylee.

In fact, Chauncey the Bear, introduced here in the latest horror outing from Blumhouse has his seeds in Sir Frederick of Krueger, with the realm of imagination taking the place of the dream country of Elm Street. Add in a touch of tone from Hellraiser with Chauncey having such sights to show us and a sprinkle of Alice in Wonderland, or more like Alice in Terrorland and you have Imaginary.

Jessica moves back into her childhood home with her husband and his two daughters only to find that there is still unfinished business from her own childhood waiting to attack the youngest girl and this comes in the form of a teddy bear, Chauncey.

DeWanda Wise as Jessica in Imaginary

DeWanda Wise as Jessica in Imaginary

I’ll be real, as I sat in the darkened room watching this, I was unsure whether or not I was enjoying it.
It sets up the premise seemingly predictably, some of the acting was a bit stage-schooley at times and the main couple didn’t really have any chemistry to make me believe they were really in love, more like besties without the romance.

DeWanda Wise plays Jessica and is believable as the surrogate mother, as is Taegan Burns, who plays the teenage step daughter, Taylor. Nobody is outrightly bad but there were a few line readings that felt overly acted including from award winning actress Betty Buckley, who plays the elderly neighbour, Gloria, who may or may not be creepy (she was in one of my favourite tv shows of all time, HBO’s Oz), but as the film got going I started to appreciate it more and as it moved into the latter third, the main course of the film emerged and the imagination promised came to life. My nit pickings were a minor and all in all I had an enjoyable time watching the adventures of Chauncey the Bear and his friends.

Hide and seek Chauncey the Bear and Alice (Pyper Braun) in Imaginary

Hide and seek
Chauncey the Bear and Alice (Pyper Braun) in Imaginary

I have a podcast with my friend called Punching Up the Movie Podcast where we take a film that is revered in one way or another and one of us has a problem with it and we discuss, debate and sometimes destroy. I’d recently been thinking about how loads of people really rate Hal Ashby ( I like The Last Detail) and they especially love his film, Being There, starring Peter Sellers from 1979 and how much I didn’t like it. This is a film that I’m gonna suggest we put through the Punching Up mill. The reason I mention this is that the main character Sellers plays is called Chance and he is a gardener but is misheard at one point and is then named Chauncey Gardner.

I want to see a film where Chauncey the bear terrorises Chauncey Gardener. 

Come on A.I., make it happen….Pleeeeeaaaaase.

I'll protect you and keep you safe from harm!!!!!! Chauncey the Bear in Imaginary
I’ll protect you and keep you safe from harm!!!!!!

I reckon Chauncey the bear could take on all of the Five Nights at Freddy’s losers but maybe would meet his match against M3gan but Chauncey the bear and M3gan vs the FNAF lot….that I might even go and see.

When you pull the string on Chauncey’s back you get a piece of music that reminded me of the ‘Three more days to Halloween….Silver Shamrock’ tune from Halloween 3 Season of the Witch. When I was a child I had a Chauncey like bear and if you pulled his string it used to say “I’ll protect you, and keep you safe from harm” which is just as creepy.

The music for the film was composed by the mighty Bear McCreary whose work I first heard in 2003 with his superb score for Battlestar Galactica, the rebooted series. Here, his tone is spot on.

Written and directed by Jason Wadlow (Kick Ass 2, Truth or Dare, Fantasy Island), here he introduces us to a character that is almost guaranteed to get at least one sequel. He peppers the film with darkened, barely visible characters in the back of frame at times that inject an unsettling creepiness to the proceedings.

Look out horror franchises, Blumhouse is looking to create new I.P. with dolls and teddy bears.

Out now at a cinema near you
1 Hour 44 Mins

THE ZONE OF INTEREST (2023)


The Zone of Interest or Interessengebiet, is a term used to refer to the restricted zone around the Auschwitz Nazi death camp and this film focuses on the domestic life of the camp Commandant, Rudolph Höss imbued with a matter of factness and efficiency by Christian Friedel, his wife Hedwig played with entitlement and fastidiousness by the great Sandra Hüller and their children. Their home is within the Zone and thus we get to hear the sounds from the camp but never see the source of the noises. This makes it all the more terrifying. What you don’t see, what you hear and see in the background through the family’s windows, the smoke coming from the chimneys, the prisoners walking around delivering goods to the house etc.

Based on a book by the late Martin Amis, Jonathan Glazer’s fourth feature film in 23 years, the others being, Sexy Beast, Birth and Under the Skin. Here Glazer eschews the main thrust of the novel which is a potential affair between an Officer and the wife of Paul Doll (who is a fictionalised version of Rudolph Höss) and instead makes the film all about the home life of the German family Höss. By doing this the power of the film is far more striking. Less conventional and much more frightening.


Let it be said, this is a difficult film to watch, there is an undercurrent of terror that is exacerbated by the ordinariness of it all, the banality of evil and the incredible soundtrack and soundscapes by Mica Levi. The bass notes are truly unsettling and nauseating and add to make it as tragic and alarming as a film like this should be. All the horror is off-screen.

There will not be a film like this anytime soon. Halfway through the film, I was reminded of Joshua Oppenheimer’s horrific documentary about the killing fields of Myanmar, The Act of Killing.
Sometimes art should be uncomfortable. It reflects our condition and it is there to teach us, and remind us. It is the point of our stories and drama. If we don’t learn from history what chance do we have as a species. Even comedies can show us something about the human condition. 

Every story is an opportunity to share something.


After watching The Zone of Interest I sought out The Conference (Die Wannseekonferenz) (2022) about the meeting of Nazi officials to discuss the final solution, which is another example of the matter-of-factness of it all to them and The Wave (Die Welle) (2008) based on a real-life social experiment that took place in 1967 by a high school history teacher, Ron Jones to show his students how the Germans could have accepted the rules and actions of Nazis by setting up a pretend social movement to demonstrate how fascism could take root anywhere. 

Both films are excellent and expand on the themes and messages of Glazer’s film.

The appeal of groups and the idea of strength in numbers is an old one that is used around the world for many nefarious and egotistical reasons.
I would love to think, like the UK rapper, JC001 did in 1993: 
“Fascists offend…Never Again, Ignorance Ascend…Never again” and “No more Nuremberg, not now nor never again” but have you seen the world recently?
A film like this one, which will unfortunately not be seen by all, needs to be out there.
Fortunately, its mere existence will cause ripples which can turn into waves.


The Zone of Interest has been nominated for 5 Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, Best International Feature Film, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound (which it should win for, the soundscapes are bone-chilling).

This is an important film that never preaches or tells you how to feel, it allows you to make up your mind and you probably have to be socio or psychopathic to not be moved by it in some way.

Just as I thought A24 may have jumped the shark into conventional territory (see The Iron Claw) they prove themselves still worthy without yelling about it by distributing and being rewarded for this staggeringly quiet and powerful film.

The Zone of Interest is out in Australia on Thursday February 22nd.
See it before it makes noise at the Oscars.

105 Minutes