Sketch is a pretty great adventure and a fresh take on a story where the boundaries between reality and fantasy fall away. It’s cleverly sweet, laugh-out-loud funny, and a tonal impossibility.
Sketch follows recently widowed father Taylor (Veep‘s Tony Hale) and his two children, Amber (Bianca Belle) and Jack (Kue Lawrence). Amber draws a lot of creative but dark monsters as a way of exorcising anger, which is totally harmless — until her sketchbook is accidentally dropped in a magical pond Jack discovers in the forest, and the monsters come to life.
Sketch Is A Hidden Gem Mental Health Movie For How It Handles Grief & Intrusive Thoughts
Dark Though They May Be, Amber’s Coping Mechanisms Aren’t Critiqued At All
First off, Sketch subverts instincts regarding how people in this type of movie are supposed to act. The therapist the main character speaks to in the prelude is actually helpful; the cranky school bus driver has a moment of bravado that made me wish she had been a part of the rest of the action.
The kids who find themselves being chased down by a crayon monstrosity were also great, with excellent comedic timing to go around, making references and fun of each other in ways that let us know they are definitely Gen Alpha. A particular standout is Kue Lawrence, especially when Jack is defending his sister.
Sketch establishes that Amber’s imaginings, which she puts down on paper, are explicitly violent. But the school doctor praises her for getting out her anger in a way that hurts no one, and the movie frames it as an overall positive habit.
In addition to illustrating Amber’s drawings as a good coping mechanism, Sketch also finds a way to celebrate her genuine creativity, even with these malevolent monsters. Taylor is paired with his sister Liz (The Good Place‘s D’Arcy Carden), who, upon hearing about her niece, remarks, “I love her brain.“
While Amber deals with bullies and loneliness by doodling monsters who would kill everyone who hurts her, her brother is trying to fix everything, and her father is smothering his own feelings. The whole thing kicks off because Jack, having discovered the powers of the strange pond, is followed by Amber when he goes back there with their mother’s ashes.
Amber could have just had a dark mindset, rather than it being the result of grief.
While the storyline about repressing feelings of grief is well done in its own right (with some heartbreaking scenes perfectly acted between Lawrence and Tony Hale), it was a bit disparate from Amber’s arc. The narrative that ultimately validates Amber’s intrusive thoughts by not treating them as harmful might have had more meaning standing on its own.
While Amber’s storyline strengthens Jack and Taylor’s (because part of their problem is that they fixate on her rather than addressing their own issues), it doesn’t really do the same the other way around. Amber could have just had a dark mindset, rather than it being the result of grief.
Sketch Is Pulling Off An Extreme Balancing Act In Tone & Genre
This Kids’ Horror Movie Was So Funny & Covered In Chalk Explosions
Sketch uses some soundtrack choices that evoke classic horror and fantasy vibes. The horror basis never entirely goes away, yet the nature of how Amber’s creations are realized means a goofier fantasy aesthetic. All the while, the beautiful onscreen duo of Hale and Carden and the dynamics among the kids also makes it a comedy, as well as a touching family drama that realistically depicts a parent striving to do his best during hard times.
Sketch is something like a fantasy-horror-comedy-drama with monsters weird enough to be from Gravity Falls and rendered with a budget-friendly appearance. It’s very tricky to make work, and yet, it largely does.
There is a tone armor that reassures the audience throughout — the kids aren’t as terrified as they would be if they were in a Jurassic Park movie. Bowman (Kalon Cox), as Amber’s bully, is also absolutely wonderful in this regard, contributing childlike ideas and off-beat rallying speeches.
Sketch is walking such a fine line in terms of tone that there are a few moments where it goes a tad awry, and something feels just a little too scary or too ridiculous after enjoying a relatively lighthearted movie where everyone is very grounded emotionally and in terms of fighting capability.
Sketch is adventurous and thematically finely-tuned. The chalk explosions of monsters are weirdly delightful, even if the magic system is awkwardly not justified or explained. It isn’t just another movie that touts the value of wonder and imagination (a moral I admittedly love), and it’s unlike anything else in how it depicts coping and healing.
Sketch
8/10
- Release Date
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August 6, 2025
- Runtime
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92 Minutes
- Director
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Seth Worley
- Writers
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Seth Worley
- All the performances are funny and emotional, and feel somewhat realistic and in-tune with the movie?s genre
- A very fresh and unique take on character arcs involving grief and mental health, pointedly not treating Amber?s coping mechanisms as harmful
- Creative in visuals and tone; Amber?s creations are morbidly childlike, and the movie mostly expertly balances comedy and drama
- Amber?s storyline would have been better without the implications of her mother?s death
