‘Sketch’ Is The Weird, Funny and Thrilling Kids’ Film We Needed
Image: A still from Sketch. Image Source: Supplied by Rialto
Grief is a heavy subject for a family adventure, but Sketch takes the plunge and mostly sticks the landing. In his bold feature debut, Seth Worley leans into the chaos of imagination and grief colliding.
After the Wyatt family loses their mother, each member falls into different coping mechanisms. Amber channels her overflowing grief and anger into drawing hilariously grotesque and unsettling monsters.
When those sketches slip into a mysterious pond in the woods, the creatures come alive, throwing the small town into chaos. Suddenly Amber, her Minecraft-consumed brother Jack, and their avoidant yet doing-his-best dad must confront not just havoc on their doorstep but the emotions they’ve been trying to bury.
From grief to monsters, a rare kids’ film that delivers bite and heart
Some might think of that famous SpongeBob episode or how this might sound like a dozen other grief allegories. What sets Sketch apart is a staunch commitment to the weirdness of its own idea.
Early on, the pace might feel sluggish but the unexpectedly daunting yet lively score—a definitive highlight—keeps the film moving. Once the action gets going, the film finds a rhythm that balances fantasy, humour and genuine scares that feels refreshingly old school for a PG movie.
This is closer to the edge of Bridge to Terabithia, Jumanji (1995) or even some vintage Goosebumps episodes than the sanitised kids’ fare that tends to dominate nowadays.
Sharp laughs and real stakes keeps Sketch grounded
The Wyatts feel easily recognisable: messy, exasperating, unwittingly funny, and quick to bicker but quicker to defend each other. Bianca Belle and Kue Lawrence, as Amber and Jack, sell the typically annoyed sibling dynamic with sharp comic timing and awkward tenderness.
Grounded performances make the kids feel both archetypical and distinct, carrying the film emotionally and comedically.
One moment you’re chuckling at their banter, the next you’re struck by the sharper, quieter moments that reveal the pain underpinning their performances.
By contrast, the adults, Tony Hale and D’Arcy Carden, fade into the background.
Hale mostly frowns and reacts in familiar fashion, though he shades the weary single dad with touches of nuance.
But the film clearly belongs to the kids and their misadventure.
Visually, Sketch bursts with colour. The monsters—goofy yet eerie, and deliberately rough—look exactly like a child’s scrawls brought to life. They’re a testament to texture and colour that perfectly suit the story, made tangible through well-integrated VFX.
The cinematography pops with vivid yet natural grading and quick, punchy edits give the film a surprising horror-tinged energy.
Kids’ shine throughout amid scares and spectacle
The tone is a tricky tightrope, but the film walks it well enough. While younger kids might find it a bit intense, the film is whimsical, scary and wholesome all at once, with just enough stakes to keep young audiences actively invested. It’s everything Harold and the Purple Crayon wishes it was but sharper, stranger and with real stakes.
The kids’ dialogue is laugh-out-loud funny and feels wholly authentic, avoiding the traps of being too precocious or painfully out of touch.
Newcomer Kalon Cox, as the hilariously blunt and irritable Bowman, steals nearly every scene. His himbo energy and compulsion to blurt whatever’s on his mind, offers comic relief that never feels forced.
A few cringe-worthy moments slip through, and the adults never quite land either, though the cast’s natural chemistry usually saves the day.
Sketch grows stronger as it runs, pulling you in by the finale, but its slightly abrupt ending undercuts what could’ve been a bigger emotional payoff.
Despite being backed by a studio known for traditionally religious fare—and undercut by end credit promotion of an AI app that animates kids’ drawings—Sketch succeeds because it embraces the messiness of real, hand-drawn imagination.
Funny, scary, weird and moving, it’s a rare kids’ film that doesn’t talk down to its audience. At a tight 90 minutes, Sketch insists pain must be faced, not hidden, and that even monsters can be transformed by love.
★★★½
Sketch opens in cinemas on 11 September.
