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• Blog: Movies

Plugged In Is Looking Back to the Classics

• September 12, 2023

So Plugged In is gonna be reviewing old movies now? Well, yes, we are. And I’m here today to tell you a bit more about why.

We here at Plugged In have occasionally dabbled at expanding our catalog of reviews to include the blockbusters from yesteryear. We’ve reviewed some original classics after new remakes were released, for instance. We’ve covered films such as Jurassic Park , Top Gun and Titanic when they were rereleased in theaters. (We even covered the recent 40 th anniversary rerelease of National Lampoon’s Vacation .) And we’ve picked up some indie fare and foreign films that were off the beaten box office path, too. But with the ongoing writers and actors strike, we thought it might be the perfect time to stretch our movie-reviewing legs a little more.

Hey, Hollywood may well have fewer new offerings in the near future. And you could be looking to streaming sites for a larger chunk of your entertainment. So, why not take a look at some classics of yesteryear? We can give you some info on films you may have heard of but never actually seen. Besides, most of those old classics are, well, classic because they’re pretty great movies.

Now, that might make you pause and wonder why we’re going to all that trouble. After all, we’re the guys and gals who count profanities and catalog the nasty content in many of today’s films, right? Yep, we are. But the truth is, every one of us also has a love for film, particularly when a given movie is well-made. A great film can be encouraging and uplifting, raise thoughtful questions, and help us see our world from a different perspective. A fabulous film enhances the time we spend with it.

Personally, I’ve found great joy in black-and-white movies created under Hollywood’s self-imposed Hays Code during the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s. The Code was a set of guidelines that Hollywood dreamed up to actually draw families back into theaters after the Great Depression. It prohibited profanity, nudity, overt sexual content and graphic violence. (You know, the kinda stuff we might see in today’s kids’ shows. Sigh.)

So today, I’m kicking off our latest venture back in cinematic time with a review of 1945’s The Bells of St. Mary’s . It’s a wonderful little film, starring Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman. It deals with faith, family and reaching out to the world around you. In fact, it’s the sort of fare you’d probably never find in theaters these days, thanks to our more cynical world. But watching it and then asking the kids to think of how things have changed could be a great family discussion-starter.

Oh, and don’t worry. If you simply hate old black-and-white movies (?!?), we’ll be reviewing a pretty broad swath of yesteryear’s critical and commercial classics. We’ve decided that going forward, we’ll be working our way through the American Film Institute’s Top 100 list. So, that ought to offer up something for everyone. (And I might toss in a couple old B&W pics that aren’t on that list just for grins. Bwahahaha !)

And in case you’re wondering, yes, if there is profanity or other nasty content to report in any of those classics, we’ll be giving you a heads up on that front, too.

Hope you enjoy.

After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.

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-I love it! I was raised by my grandparents and I grew up on a lot of classics (especially old musicals like My Fair Lady and The King and I and so many WWII movies I lost count of them all) and also spent 7 years in drama class studying film and stage (lots of Hitchcock and Capra). So I’m definitely looking forward to your insights on some of my favorites… and maybe you’ll spark an interest in some ones I might have missed. 🙂

-Finally! I’m a blogger myself, and I love movies. I decided to combine the two and create a movie (and TV) review blog. There are so many that I love, and have also covered so many unspeakably horrible ones that are unfit for any living being. Advice that I hear often about being a reviewer is to broaden your scope (i.e., look at top 100 lists, and even to cover foreign films). All fair advice, but how is a Christian supposed to navigate Hollywood? I am looking forward to your reviews of movies like Good Will Hunting and The Shawshank Redemption, some of my favorites but I fully acknowledge have issues.

-I know you guys already reviewed the 1982 movie “E.T: The Extra-terrestrial” when that movie was rereleased for its’ 20th anniversary in 2002, but have you considered reviewing “Close Encounters Of The Third Kind” or “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”?

-Hooray! This is a great way to introduce families to amazing movies that streaming algorithms might not recommend. Bring on the film noir! And don’t skimp on the foreign stuff. My son would watch The Red Balloon all day if I let him.

-Thank you so, so much for doing this. I’d like to see you write a review of “It’s A Wonderful Life”, the very first Disney animated movie “Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs”, the original Disney animated version of “Dumbo”, the Disney animated classic “Bambi”, and the classic movies Audrey Hepburn starred in, such as “Roman Holiday”, “Sabrina”, “Funny Face”, and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”.

-Wait Until Dark is classic Audrey too. Plus classic Alan Arkin as the creepy villain.

-Let’s not give the Hays Code too much credit. It was also problematic (“miscegenation” was forbidden), and a good number of the criteria it either prohibited or discouraged are openly found in Scripture. “Glamorized” is a different subject, but censorship boards don’t always allow for context.

-Thanks, Bob! I teach an online high school course on watching classic movies from a biblical perspective. In fact, next week’s class is on the Hays Code. I’m thrilled to see Plugged In expanding its offerings to cover more of the classics!

-Personally i wish we could go back to hays code a time where things were more decent, movies were more watchable and better made. Not drenched in sex, violence, and drugs and actually good stories that werent just garbage/ were alot less agenda and worrying trying to find movies can actuall watch as a movie. Give me that and good actually well made classic ls less garbage any day.

-If we were to take “agenda” out of movies, that’d eliminate all Christian+Jewish movies by default. Every movie has some sort of message, healthy or not (and it benefits us to be discerning about so-called “Christian” movies as well).

-Great! Looking forward to reading!

-Would love new ideas of old movies to watch with my family….. here are some ideas: African Queen, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Ghost of Mr. Chicken, Casablanca, Gone With the Wind, Pollyanna (or even a whole series on Disney Sunday night movies– we also love North Avenue irregulars).

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A family heads to a secluded beach vacation. They speak vaguely of the passage of time in a way that parents often do with their children, as mom mentions how she can’t wait to hear her daughter’s singing voice when she grows up. Shortly thereafter, it’s revealed that mom may not be able to do that because she has a tumor and this could be a "last trip," either because of her physical health or the health of her crumbling marriage. The passage of time changes at different points in your life, but especially when you see your kids growing up too fast and when you worry you might not be able to witness the bulk of their journey. When M. Night Shyamalan’s “Old,” based on the book by Pierre-Oscar Lévy and Frederick Peeters, is playing thematically with those feelings and allowing itself to be surreal and scary in the process, it truly works. When it feels like it has to nail down specifics, such as in a disappointing final stretch, it crosses that median line into the silly lane. The mysteries of aging are something everyone considers—“Old” taps into those considerations with just enough style to engage before stepping back from its own edge.

The family in the opening scene consists of Guy ( Gael García Bernal ), Prisca ( Vicky Krieps ), Trent ( Nolan River ) and Maddox ( Alexa Swinton ). The resort manager tells them about a secluded beach where they can avoid the touristy crowds, and they’re taken there by none other than Shyamalan himself in maybe his most meta cameo (after all, he’s the director, assembling all of his players on the sandy stage). Guy and Prisca’s clan isn’t alone. They’re joined by a doctor named Charles ( Rufus Sewell ), his wife Chrystal ( Abbey Lee ), his mother Agnes ( Kathleen Chalfant ) and his daughter Kara ( Mikaya Fisher ). A third couple joins them in Jarin ( Ken Leung ) and Patricia ( Nikki Amuka-Bird ). All of the travelers meet a mysterious traveler at the beach when they arrive in a rapper named Mid-Sized Sedan ( Aaron Pierre ). And why is he bleeding from his nose? And is that a dead body?

From their arrival, the beauty of this beach, surrounded by steep stone, feels threatening. The waves crash and the rock wall almost seems to grow taller as the day goes on. When they try to walk back the way they came, they get faint and wake up on the beach again. And then things get really weird when Trent and Maddox are suddenly significantly older, jumping about five years in a couple hours. The adults figure out that every half-hour on this beach is like a year off of it. As the kids age into Alex Wolff , Eliza Scanlen , and the great Thomasin McKenzie , the adults face their own physical issues, including hearing/vision problems, dementia, and that damn tumor in Prisca’s body. Can they get off the beach before 24 hours age them 48 years?

What a clever idea. Rod Serling would have loved it. And “Old” is very effective when Shyamalan is being playful and quick with his high concept. “Old” doesn’t really feel like a traditional mystery. I never once cared about “figuring out” what was happening to this crew, enjoying “Old” far more as surreal horror than as a thriller that demanded explanations. Having said that, it sometimes feels like Shyamalan and his team have to pull punches to hold that PG-13. I wondered about the truly gruesome, Cronenberg version of this story that doesn’t shy away from what happens to the human body over time and doesn't feel a need to dot every 'i' and cross every 't'.

The actors all seem like they would have been willing to go on that more surreal journey. Most of the ensemble finds a way to push through a script that really uses them like a kid uses sand toys on a beach, moving them around before they wash away with the tide. Stand-outs include Sewell’s confused menace, McKenzie’s palpable fear (she nails that the best, by far, understanding she's in a horror movie more than some of the others), and the grounded center provided by Bernal and Krieps.

A director who often veers right when he should arguably go left, Shyamalan and his collaborators manage their tone here better than he has in years. Yes, the dialogue is clunky and almost entirely expositional regarding their plight and attempts to escape it, but that’s a feature, not a bug. “Old” should have an exaggerated, surreal tone and Shyamalan mostly keeps that in place, assisted greatly by some of the best work yet by his regular cinematographer Mike Gioulakis . The pair are constantly playing with perception and forced POV, fluidly gliding their camera up and down the beach as if it’s rushing to catch up with all the developments as they happen. Some of the framing here is inspired, catching a corner of a character’s head before revealing they’re now being played by a new actor. It’s as visually vibrant a film as Shyamalan has made in years, at its best when it's embracing its insanity. The waves are so loud and the rock wall is so imposing that they almost feel like characters.     

Sadly, the film crashes when it decides to offer some sane explanations and connect dots that didn’t really need to be connected. There’s a much stronger version of “Old” that ends more ambiguously, allowing viewers to leave the theatre playing around with themes instead of unpacking exactly what was going on. The conversation around Shyamalan often focuses on his final scenes, and I found the ones in “Old” some of his most frustrating given how they feel oppositional to what works best about the movie. When his characters are literally trying to escape the passage of time, as people do when their kids are growing up too fast or they receive a mortality diagnosis, “Old” is fascinating and entertaining. It’s just too bad that it doesn’t age into its potential.

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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Film credits.

Rated PG-13 for strong violence, disturbing images, suggestive content, partial nudity and brief strong language.

108 minutes

Gael García Bernal as Guy

Vicky Krieps as Prisca

Rufus Sewell as Charles

Alex Wolff as Trent Aged 15

Nikki Amuka-Bird as Patricia

• M. Night Shyamalan

Writer (based on the graphic novel "Sandcastle" by)

• Pierre-Oscar Levy
• Frederick Peeters

Cinematographer

• Mike Gioulakis
• Brett M. Reed
• Trevor Gureckis

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• DVD & Streaming
• Action/Adventure , Drama , War

Content Caution

In Theaters

• November 8, 2019
• Ed Skrein as Dick Best; Mandy Moore as Ann Best; Patrick Wilson as Edwin Layton; Rachael Perrell Fosket as Dagne Layton; Woody Harrelson as Chester W. Nimitz; Luke Evans as Wade McClusky; Luke Kleintank as Clarence Dickinson; Dennis Quaid as William “Bull” Halsey; Aaron Eckhart as Jimmy Doolittle; Keean Johnson as James Murray; Nick Jonas as Bruno Gaido; Etsushi Toyokawa as Isoroku Yamamoto; Tadanobu Asano as Tamon Yamaguchi; Darren Criss as Eugene Lindsey; Jun Kunimura as Chuichi Nagumo

Home Release Date

• February 18, 2020
• Roland Emmerich

Distributor

Movie review.

“Don’t push us into a corner,” Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto told Commander Edwin T. Layton, assistant naval attaché to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, back in 1937. “You must give those of us who are more reasonable a chance to carry the day.”

Alas, Yamamoto’s reasoned, moderate plea for restraint goes unheeded by leaders in his own country. Dialogue and diplomacy vanish like ash in the wind amid increasing regional aggression. And Japan’s fearsome military machine begins its brutal march across Asia and the Pacific.

Four years later, that aggression erupts unexpectedly at Pearl Harbor. As American sailors set up chairs for a chapel service on the deck of the U.S.S Arizona one sleepy December morning, Japanese Zeroes roar overheard, strafing, bombing and torpedoing the pride of the U.S. Pacific fleet. The surprise attack—one that Layton, now chief intelligence officer at Pearl had tragically warned could be coming—lays waste to the fleet anchored there. The preemptive strike exacts a terrible toll: nearly 2,500 Americans dead. Five battleships sunk. Thirteen more destroyed or damaged.

It seems a crippling blow.

But Yamamoto, now in command of the Japanese Combined Fleet, frets and fumes. Despite the apparent success of the ambush, Admiral Chuichi Nagumo failed in one key respect: finding and destroying American aircraft carriers at sea as he’d been ordered to do. America’s might is diminished, yes. But not its capacity to take the fight to the Japanese with its aircraft carriers. “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve,” he says.

Yamamoto’s words will prove prophetic.

Layton, now reporting to newly installed Pacific commander Chester Nimitz, believes the Japanese are marshalling their forces for a knockout blow, one that will leave the Pacific undefended and the West coast of the United States vulnerable to invasion.

But where ?

A crack team of American codebreakers has intercepted enough evidence to convince Layton that the blow will fall at Midway. Layton even thinks he can identity the date and time of that attack. Washington thinks otherwise. But Nimitz trusts his intelligence man and his unorthodox team of codebreakers.

And so Nimitz and Layton, along with Admiral Bill Halsey and other top Navy brass, quietly, methodically and desperately set a trap for the Japanese Navy at that otherwise insignificant sandy dot in the middle of the Pacific.

But can they spring it? Can they achieve the victory that will turn the tide?

Success will depend on surprise. Skill. Luck.

Oh, and aircraft carriers.

But most all, success at Midway will depend upon the bravery of a small group of seasoned-but-battered pilots whose determination to repay the infamy of Pearl Harbor does indeed fill them with Yamamotos’s much-feared “terrible resolve.”

Positive Elements

The Battle of Midway started on June 4, 1942 and lasted three days. It was indeed the decisive turning point in the contest for the Pacific. The Americans’ eventual victory hangs by the thinnest of threads, and it is ultimately delivered by a combination of resolve, ingenuity, intuition and most—most of all—raw courage.

Much of the story revolves around the efforts of two men: Edwin Layton’s attempts to decipher Yamamoto’s intent (and convince leaders of that intel); and the daring, death-defying courage of a fighter-bomber pilot named Dick Best (and the men who fly with him).

Layton has cultivated a team of codebreakers whose work he trusts completely. But the task of codebreaking, as we see here, is as much art as science, as they can only decipher about 25% of the coded Japanese communication traffic that they intercept. Layton and his team piece together their best guess at Yamamoto’s intent. But it is a guess, and Washington’s intel officers (working with the same information) interpret the sketchy information differently.

Layton fights fiercely for his interpretation of the data. He’s haunted by the idea that he was to blame for Pearl Harbor, because he didn’t follow his hunch (based, again, on intelligence data) that the attack was coming. He’s determined not to repeat that mistake, and Nimitz backs his man fully, despite Washington’s pressure to do otherwise.

Dick Best’s task, meanwhile, is both simpler and oh so much harder: dropping bombs on Japanese ships. Best helps convince the Navy that new torpedoes (dropped from fighters) aren’t working effectively. That forces a return to much riskier bombing tactics, in which fighter-bombers fly nearly straight down on their aircraft carrier targets—against a storm of defending anti-aircraft fire—to release their explosive payload at the last possible moment. It’s a job that claims the lives of many pilots and their rear-seat gunners. But Best and his crew are up to the task.

Best works to convince one fear-filled pilot to keep flying. [ Spoiler Warning ] When that pilot dies in a botched carrier take-off, Best grapples with guilt about having encouraged the man to climb back into the cockpit.

Another subplot involves pilot Jimmy Doolittle’s famous bombing raid on Tokyo. The men flying it know they can’t carry enough fuel to get back to the carriers, and they debate even whether they’ll be able to make it to unoccupied Chinese territory before they run out of fuel.

The frontline pilots’ bravery here is augmented by the at times unorthodox thinking of the leaders plotting the Americans’ strategy. They’re willing to take bold risks to succeed, whereas the Japanese leaders are shown to be rigid and inflexible in terms of listening to junior officers’ innovative ideas—ideas that would have circumvented the American trap at Midway. And though generals aren’t necessarily known for their humilty, both Nimitz and Halsey have that quality and are willing to listen and not simply default to conventional wisdom.

When the aircraft carrier Yorktown is badly damaged at the Battle of the Coral Sea, Nimitz is told that it will take at least two weeks to make it seaworthy again in drydock at Pearl. Nimitz replies that they have 72 hours to make it happen … and they do.

Throughout the film, Americans exercise bravery and courage in the face of withering enemy fire. One captured American bravely refuses to divulge any information to his Japanese captors. We also get small glimpses into the lives of Navy wives stationed at Pearl Harbor as they stoically shoulder the burden of the risks their husbands are taking. Both Dick Best’s wife, Ann, and Edwin Layton’s wife, Dagne, do everything they can to encourage and support their husbands.

Spiritual Elements

A sailor who says he doesn’t believe in God complains about having to set up chairs on the deck of the U.S.S. Arizona for a chapel service.

We hear two earnest exclamations of “Thank God!” and another of “God bless them.” One pilot is said to be the godfather of another’s daughter. The Japanese Emperor is referred to as a “heavenly sovereign.”

Reflecting on the uncertainty of life and death, one sailor tells another, “You never know what’s going to get you, so why worry about it.”

Sexual Content

We see Ann Best and Dagne Layton in nightgowns. Dick and Ann cuddle in bed together, but things never proceed further than that onscreen. Married couples are shown kissing a couple of times.

We hear a sarcastic reference to a pilot who has a reputation for “chasing tail.”

Violent Content

Midway is a war movie. As such, we see many intense images involving naval combat and the casualties it claims.

Vulnerable sailors are shot by Japanese fighters at Pearl Harbor. Explosions and fire rend ships and kill many men. (We see several completely charred corpses in a Naval infirmary.) Multiple men experience terrible burns. Some pilots are shot and killed in their planes. Scores more are shot out of the sky, their planes incinerated by artillery or strafed by bullets. Wounded planes that don’t explode outright often plunge into the ocean more or less intact. (One crew manages to escape in a life raft.) After the attack on Pearl Harbor, an orderly says that they have been carrying in body parts in pillowcases.

Multiple ships get bombed, torpedoed and filled with bullet holes, exploding spectacularly. One Japanese admiral chooses to go down with his mortally wounded carrier, and a junior officer insists on going with him.

Japanese pilots also shoot and bomb villages in occupied mainland China. In retribution for Jimmy Doolittle’s raid, we’re told that the Japanese killed some 250,000 Chinese in the region where Doolittle and his men bailed out. We see piles of rotting Chinese corpses in a village hut.

The Japanese also execute a captured American pilot brutally by pushing him into the ocean, then dropping an anchor in after him that’s tied to his leg, dragging him to a watery grave.

One pilot’s oxygen container is contaminated with a chemical that destroys his lungs and causes him to cough up blood.

Crude or Profane Language

One f-word, five s-words. God’s name is paired with “d–n” half a dozen times. Jesus’ name is misused twice. We hear about 15 uses of “h—” and 10 or so of “d–n.” Sailors angrily spit the vulgarity “b–tard” five or six times. We hear one to three uses each of “a–,” “a–hole” and “son of a b–ch.” An American calls a Japanese a “little bugger.”

Drug and Alcohol Content

Sailors smoke continually throughout the film. Several scenes involve sailors and wives drinking alcoholic beverages at Pearl Harbor’s officers club, on beaches and in other social settings. One sailor drinks from a flask.

At a memorial service for a fallen comrade, U.S. sailors fondly recall beer-drinking exploits in Canada during Prohibition. (Sailors raise shots in his memory.)

An admiral is shown taking prescription medication.

Other Negative Elements

For reasons that are never clearly spelled out, one U.S. fighter pilot tells the wife of another how reckless her husband is in battle. It’s unclear whether he’s interested in the man’s wife, but for some reason he wants to undermine their relationship.

American film director John Ford arrives at Midway to shoot fake battle scenes immediately before the real battle commences. He’s urged to take cover, but he instructs his cameramen to capture the battle from a very exposed promontory.

“This is our job. And we’re the guys who have to hold the fort until the cavalry arrives.”

That’s the pep talk Dick Best gives a petrified pilot before the final battle commences at Midway. And it’s also a terrific summary of the no-nonsense bravery exhibited by the sailors and pilots whose stories are woven together heroically here. These men had a job to do. And they did it, bravely, willingly. It was a job that cost 307 of them their lives.

But their sacrifice, movingly depicted by director Roland Emmerich ( Independence Day ), turned the tide in the Pacific. It was the beginning of the end for the Japanese Navy. It represented the awakened giant of Yamamoto’s nightmares.

Midway is a deeply inspiring movie. It’s also a war movie, though, with all of the content that comes with it. Many men die. And we’re reminded of where the phrase “swears like a sailor” came from, because there’s plenty of language here, too.

Some viewers may not want to endure the verbal assault that goes along with the visual one here. But those who do choose to sit through this dramatization of the greatest naval battle in U.S. history will be profoundly reminded of the cost to secure the liberties that Americans—and many other people around the world—cherish.

Adam R. Holz

After serving as an associate editor at NavPress’ Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In’s reviews as the site’s director. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children. In their free time, the Holzes enjoy playing games, a variety of musical instruments, swimming and … watching movies.

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Adam holz, paul asay and johnathan mckee, movie review: if.

If you’ve ever wondered what happens to children’s imaginary friends when they’re inevitably forgotten, IF answer that question in a sweet way.

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About Plugged In Entertainment Reviews

Plugged In is a Focus on the Family publication designed to shine a light on the world of popular entertainment while giving families the essential tools they need to understand, navigate and impact the culture in which they live. Through our reviews, articles and discussions, we hope to spark intellectual thought, spiritual growth and a desire to follow the command of Colossians 2:8: "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ."

About Adam Holz, Paul Asay and Johnathan McKee

Adam Holz  After serving as an associate editor at NavPress' Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In's reviews along with hosting The Plugged In Show and the Plugged In Entertainment Review radio feature.   Paul Asay has been part of the  Plugged In  staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including  Time,   The Washington Post  and  Christianity Today . The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter  @AsayPaul . Jonathan McKee  is the author of over twenty books. He has over 20 years youth ministry experience and  speaks  to parents and leaders worldwide, He can be heard each week on the Plugged In Entertainment Review radio feature and The Plugged In Show. You can follow Jonathan on  his blog , getting a regular dose of youth culture and parenting help. Jonathan, his wife Lori, and their three kids live in California.

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May 17, 2024

If - plugged in review.

Two films are reviewed by Adam Holz with Plugged In , one released in theaters and the other is streaming on Netflix. There’s something refreshingly lovely about a family-focused film that doesn’t choose to jump through the same old problematic hoops. IF , written and directed by actor John Krasinski, is one such film and it opens this weekend. Thelma the Unicorn is adapted from writer Aaron Blabey’s book of the same name, is charging out of the stable and onto Netflix’s stage. CLICK HERE to read the full review of these films.

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One Life tells a poignant story of one Englishman’s determination to save Czech refugee children from the Nazis on the eve of WWII.

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Review: ‘IF,’ a movie about imaginary friends, requires suspension of disbelief — and a few more drafts

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There’s an existential question at the heart of “A Quiet Place” director John Krasinski’s new kid-friendly semi-animated movie “IF.” It’s a simple one, but it speaks to the limitless potential of a child’s imagination and it gets asked again and again: “What if?”

“IF” is also an acronym in the film for “imaginary friend,” and the movie spurs the audience to consider the impossible: What if our imaginary friends never disappear with time and memory, but remain in the world, purposeless and friendless?

It’s an interesting premise, and Krasinski has leveraged his hefty Hollywood contacts list to contribute voices to the imaginary friends. However, a cute premise and a bunch of stars are pretty much the only things going for “IF,” which is a surprisingly somber film with serious storytelling problems, because Krasinski hasn’t bothered to flesh out the fantastical world-building of his script.

It’s a bit ironic because the characters repeatedly talk about the importance of stories. In an opening narration, our heroine Bea (Cailey Fleming) describes how when she was a child, her mother would ask her for a story; later, she tells a story to her father (Krasinski) in one of the film’s climactic, cathartic moments. Krasinski insists that stories are important but never actually demonstrates why or how. And on a structural level, the storytelling of “IF” itself is a mess: a heartfelt but dramatically inert endeavor that whipsaws between tones ranging from whimsical to morose.

This may pretend to be a film about imaginary friends, but what it’s actually about is dead and dying parents. The “IFs” are the coping mechanism, and they are also the emotional tether to childlike wonder and comfort in escapism, which is something that 12-year-old Bea needs more than ever. In an opening montage, we see her happy childhood and her mother (Catharine Daddario) slipping away due to illness. When we meet Bea again in the present, her father is in the hospital with a “broken heart” (though he’s plenty spry enough to pull childish pranks and high jinks).

Bea is staying with her grandmother (Fiona Shaw) in her childhood apartment in Brooklyn Heights, strangely left to her own devices, and ends up falling in with her reticent neighbor Cal (Ryan Reynolds) and his two magical associates, a giant purple guy named Blue (voiced by Steve Carell) and a ballerina Minnie Mouse creature, Blossom (voiced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge).

Blue and Blossom are IFs whose kids have grown up and they’d like to find new ones to befriend. After they explain their plight, Bea takes on the matchmaking task as her new “job.” It’s never explained what will happen to the IFs if they don’t get paired up, as it seems they just go live in a retirement home underneath Coney Island. But Bea seals the deal with a musical performance of Tina Turner’s “You Better Be Good to Me,” which is a callback to her own childhood memories but also feels like an extensive inside joke.

They soon realize that they need to be tracking down the adult pals of the IFs instead of looking for new ones, and so Bea roams New York City with Cal, Blue and Blossom looking for these kids and trying to activate their sense memories so that they can see their IFs again.

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There’s a lot of potential disbelief to suspend here. A set of rules and regulations about these imaginary creatures would help. Who can see them? Why does Bea’s grandmother not wonder why she is running off to Coney Island all day? Is her dad in a mental hospital? Is any of this actually happening?

Krasinski emphasizes poignancy over coherence, with composer Michael Giacchino wildly overscoring the piece in order to convey narrative beats that simply aren’t there. The oddly paced film feels randomly strung together, spiced with a collection of one-line vocal cameos delivered by high-profile Krasinski pals (George Clooney, Matt Damon, Maya Rudolph, Emily Blunt, Jon Stewart, Bradley Cooper, Keegan-Michael Key, Sam Rockwell, Awkwafina, Blake Lively, Amy Schumer, Christopher Meloni, Richard Jenkins, etc.). The film looks great, with rich, vintage production design by Jess Gonchor, and it’s beautifully shot by Steven Spielberg’s master cinematographer Janusz Kaminski . But the whole conceit is so undercooked, it could give you salmonella.

“IF” is a film from an adult’s perspective about the importance of imagination, and a reminder to stay connected with our own sense of childlike wonder. But is it a movie for kids, or for the inner child of an adult? With its nonsensical, confounding story, it might not be for anyone, even if its heart is in the right place.

'IF'

Rating: PG, for thematic elements and mild language Running time: 1 hour, 44 minutes Playing: Now in wide release

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Miller's girl, common sense media reviewers.

Racy student-teacher thriller flunks; very strong language.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Only negative messages here, including a statement

While Cairo Sweet is a smart, sharp high school st

Diverse characters with counter-stereotypical but

Inappropriate relationships between teens and adul

High school girls plot to lose their virginity to

Pervasive, extremely strong language includes "a--

Most of the characters smoke, including aspiration

Parents need to know that Miller's Girl is a fictional thriller that incorporates elements from the work and life of novelist Henry Miller, who's known for erotic, boundary-pushing literature. Jenna Ortega stars as Ciaro Sweet, a smart 18-year-old who, along with her best friend, targets teachers for…

Positive Messages

Only negative messages here, including a statement that seems like the central take-away: "Teen girls are dangerous, full of emotional violence and vituperation."

Positive Role Models

While Cairo Sweet is a smart, sharp high school student with an impressive vocabulary, her behavior is iffy.

Diverse Representations

Diverse characters with counter-stereotypical but negative portrayals. The main character is a smart, independent Latina (Mexican-Puerto Rican actor Jenna Ortega), but she's also cruel, selfish, and manipulative. A Black male high school teacher is a good friend but engages in flirtatious behavior with students, including late-night sexting. A female author is talented but also drinks too much and can be cutting and mean. A character who declares that she's a lesbian spends the whole film trying to seduce a man, talking in detail about her heterosexual desire. There's a Black female vice principal, and a student with a walking disability is shown in the background.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Inappropriate relationships between teens and adults.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

High school girls plot to lose their virginity to male teachers. Sexual activity occurs below the frame of the camera. Teens sext with a teacher. Girls strip down to their bras and make out to get a man's attention. A teacher masturbates while reading his student's work. Vulgar sexual language throughout. Characters read "pornographic" literature to each other; at times, it turns into sexual acts. Wife encourages her husband to talk about his relationship with a high school student, and it arouses her. Passionate kissing.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Pervasive, extremely strong language includes "a--hole," "goddamn," "s--t," and frequent use of "f--k." Vulgar sexual language throughout includes "cherry-popping," "cum," "c--t," "c--k," "f--k," "handy," "p---y," and "wet dream."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Most of the characters smoke, including aspirational ones. Smoking is shown as a way to share and build a romantic connection. Drinking throughout by both teens and adults. Successful author has an alcohol dependency. References to pot brownies.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Miller's Girl is a fictional thriller that incorporates elements from the work and life of novelist Henry Miller, who's known for erotic, boundary-pushing literature. Jenna Ortega stars as Ciaro Sweet, a smart 18-year-old who, along with her best friend, targets teachers for their first sexual experiences. Ciaro's teacher, Mr. Miller ( Martin Freeman ), is married to successful author Beatrice ( Dagmara Dominczyk ), and their sex life doesn't appear to be lacking -- though there's more (steamy) talk than action. Language of all sorts is extremely strong and constant, with sexual conversations particularly explicit (i.e. "p---y," "c--k," and "f--k" used in every possible way). Teen girls, undressed to their bras, also make out and sext with a teacher. Nearly all of the characters drink and smoke throughout. And if you think there's some sort of positive message tied into the movie's eyebrow-raising topic of teacher-student romance, think again. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (6)
• Kids say (3)

Based on 6 parent reviews

Not worth my time

What's the story.

In MILLER'S GIRL, smart high school senior Cairo Sweet ( Jenna Ortega ) tranfers into Mr. Miller's ( Martin Freeman ) English literature class. Miller finds her to be an exceptional student with a promising future, and the two connect over the work of literary innovator Henry Miller. But a midterm assignment stirs up the complexity in their relationship, exposing the core of their true nature.

Is It Any Good?

While this thriller is literary minded and uses 20 $1 words per sentence, the writing is terrible, and the effect is cheap. Writer/director Jade Halley Barrett brings back all of the ickiness of the 1960s-'80s, when movies and TV commercials portrayed tween and teen girls as sexually provocative and available to men. The question is, why?

Students and fans of Henry Miller's provocative work and unique writing style may get something out of this bad romance. But for everyone else, it's unenjoyable and cringey on all levels. Funnymen Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg may have produced this sexually inappropriate thriller, but it's not funny, and it's not satire.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how Miller's Girl shows the power of words. How are words used to cut, to encourage, to arouse, to destroy, etc.?

Talk about Henry Miller's literary style. Why were his books banned in the United States for decades? Do you think books should be banned?

Teens: How would Ciaro fit in at your school? Do you think she'd seem cool? Why do you think she only has one friend in the movie?

The movie blends Henry Miller's biographical details and published work to create a work of fiction similar to his writing style. How do we classify this? Is it historical fiction, like Shakespeare in Love ? Or is it just fiction? Do you think it works? What author would make an interesting subject to try this technique?

Are smoking and drinking glamorized here? Why, or why not? Are there realistic consequences? Why does that matter?

Movie Details

• In theaters : January 26, 2024
• Cast : Jenna Ortega , Martin Freeman , Gideon Adlon
• Director : Jade Halley Bartlett
• Inclusion Information : Female actors, Latino actors
• Studio : Lionsgate
• Genre : Thriller
• Run time : 95 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : sexual content, language throughout, some teen smoking and drinking
• Last updated : May 20, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.