Rating: 2/5
Synopsis:
“Sketch” takes inspiration from multiple genres to craft a story unique even for Angel Studios. After the death of their mother, a family struggles to deal with their feelings. The father and son try to go about everything as normal while the daughter uses her creativity to grapple with her feelings. She draws horrific monsters to project her emotions. But when she stumbles upon a magic pond, she quickly learns of its powers as her monsters begin coming to life. As the monsters begin roaming free, the family must come together and stop these creatures from destroying their town.
Positives:
I’ll admit the marketing for “Sketch” didn’t move me much. But after hearing positive reception I decided to cover the film. What I’ll say is that the story certainly takes some risks tonally. It covers some heavy dramatic elements about losing a family member and how each person deals with it. We get some intimate moments between a father and his kids, where being in his position would be emotionally taxing. He has to keep it together for his kids while processing his new reality of being a single parent. Tony Hale does a nice job with the material he’s given and was a good choice for this role. The child actors also do a nice job at conveying the different ways their characters are processing this grief. They share a unique bond that develops even further as they combat the monsters together. The film also concludes on a heartfelt moment that feels fitting to the journey these characters experience. I am surprised at how dark and serious the film gets at times, so credit to Angel Studios for taking a creative risk.
Negatives:
What bums me out most about “Sketch” is the wasted potential. This is a wildly creative and thoughtful story that tackles heavy emotions, making it tangible for younger audiences to understand. But the execution is where the problems occur. The script is quite poor. The way the characters talk with one another doesn’t feel natural. It feels like they are asked to read a lot of strange dialogue combined with forced humor right out of a Marvel movie. Not only was the dialogue bad, but the humor is interjected throughout the story far too much. It undercuts some deeper moments that could have been great for the characters to come full circle with their feelings. The film also makes light of grief filled circumstances, undercutting the potency of the story. I’ve never seen Angel Studios copy the Marvel formula before but it didn’t work for the film at all.
Another note for parents specifically is that the film leans into more horror elements than expected. I personally didn’t mind them as it highlights the dark thoughts the daughter is experiencing. There are some surprisingly scary scenes that I wouldn’t deem appropriate for younger audiences. The problem is that these darker elements clash with the comedy and the more serious exploration of grief. The tone zigzags all over the place, creating emotional whiplash for the audience. If the film picked a tone it wanted to focus on, the audience would have a better time connecting to the story. I wish the conclusion of the story resonated more but the story building up to it was too jarring to appreciate the film as intended.
Conclusion:
“Sketch” is a great case of an awesome premise that is hampered by execution. What could have been a thoughtful exploration of grief through a child’s creativity is undermined by bad writing, cringey humor, and a clash of tones. This isn’t typical Angel Studios fare so parents should be cautious before taking their kids to see it due to the scary nature of the monsters. The strong themes about families processing the loss of a loved one could have been such a strong angle. But unfortunately the film doesn’t know what it wants to be. I’d say skip this one with all the other good movies out right now.