Sketch (2025)

User Review

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  ScreenZealots

  5 / 10

  The most intriguing aspect of writer/director Seth Worley’s “Sketch” is his blending of kid’s horror with a faith-based narrative. There hasn’t really been a movie like this before, and he finds varying degrees of success with this project. While I didn’t love the film, there’s a lot to admire about this visually imaginative and emotionally sincere family adventure.
  
  With a story that blends light fantasy chaos with deeper themes of grief, emotional healing, and resilience, the film tells the story of Amber (Bianca Belle), a budding artist who has a penchant for drawing dark, surreal, and extremely disturbing works. When she accidentally drops her sketchbook into a mysterious pond, her drawings spring to life and begin wreaking havoc across her small town. Amber and her brother Jack (Kue Lawrence) race to capture the creatures while their dad Taylor (Tony Hale) is caught in the middle trying to keep his fractured family together.
  
  While uneven in execution, the film has a unique (and quite dark) concept that feels different from similar family fare. The story channels the playful energy of films like “Jumanji” while aiming for a level of emotional insight typically absent in creature features.
  
  The themes are heavy, exploring how children internalize loss and how artistic creativity can become a powerful outlet for processing emotions. The monsters born from Amber’s grief-fueled imagination become metaphors for the chaos within. Of course, the resolution rests not in defeating the creatures with force, but in understanding their origin.
  
  The visual effects are modest but inventive. The CGI creatures are deliberately more quirky than terrifying (one major monster character has goofy googly eyes and fuzzy limbs, and he looks like a warped version of a “Sesame Street” Muppet). It’s a clever choice that makes the film accessible for younger viewers without sacrificing the metaphorical weight of the messaging.
  
  The performances are competent but nothing special. Hale brings a grounded, empathetic energy to the role of a father navigating his children’s grief while trying to suppress his own. Belle (Amber) and Lawrence (Jack) deliver sincere portrayals of kids wrestling with emotions too big for them to name. While the dialogue occasionally veers into cliché and the pacing lags in the second act, the film never loses its emotional weight.
  
  While this is a faith-based film, it doesn’t feel overly preachy (at least not constantly). The moral virtue signaling is there, and it may not appeal to all viewers. The film does carry a lightly spiritual tone that’s more universal than Christian, suggesting that healing requires honesty, courage, and connection with others.
  
  “Sketch” is predictable and simplistic, yet it deserves credit for tackling grief and emotional complexity in a format digestible for families and children. The movie’s greatest strength lies in its intention to show that imagination is not merely an escape, but a pathway to confronting fears and fostering understanding and growth.
  
  By: Louisa Moore / SCREEN ZEALOTS

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