Sketch

When I was 10, I wrote and directed a school play. In it, a babysitter and her charges are murdered by a roving madman. I got in a lot of trouble.

Young Amber Wyatt (Bianca Belle) knows my pain. To the dismay of her out-of-his depth dad (Tony Hale) and protective if clueless brother Jack (Kue Lawrence), Amber draws scary monsters capable of murder. Mainly they murder Bowman (Kalon Cox), the b-hole from the school bus who is on Amber’s last nerve. But with their teeth, tentacles, hook feet, and sword arms, they could murder anybody.

Could they? We’ll, we’re set to find out when Amber Wyatt’s sketchbook makes its way into a magical little pond and all her beasties come to life.

Writer/director Seth Worley’s Sketch is the latest Angel Studios release, but don’t hold that against it. Yes, that’s the studio responsible for the irresponsible, illogical, and terribly acted Sound of Freedom and a host of other mediocre-to-awful inspirational films. Still, Sketch is a charmer, family-friendly but unafraid, forgiving and funny.

The message is clear but not too blunt: stop freaking out about the kids who are examining their pain. Worry more about the people who are silencing theirs. Part of the reason the themes resonate without wallowing is the banter between the always reliable Hale and D’Arcy Carden, as his sister.

Belle struggles from time to time with the heaviness of the character, but both Lawrence and Cox deliver silly fun as a couple of dumbasses out to save their town from day-glo chalk monsters belching glitter.

Worley’s writing is on point, rarely (though occasionally) drifting into maudlin territory. But even at its weakest, the script benefits from Carden’s crisp comic turn and Hale’s effortlessly empathetic pathos.

Plus, the imagination that is celebrated onscreen with macabre whimsy articulates a kind of acceptance rarely emphasized in films that begin with a teacher worrying a parent over creepy kid drawings.

There’s a lot beneath the film’s surface that feels too familiar, but a game cast and directorial commitment to childish creativity elevate Sketch. It’s a good one to watch with your kids. Even better if you’re kind of afraid of your kids.