Sketch (2024)

Sketch is what happens when a school therapist’s advice goes spectacularly sideways. Amber’s counselor tells her to keep drawing her angry monsters. Then her brother Jack finds a pond in the woods that repairs whatever falls in, her sketchbook takes a dip, and by morning her drawings are loose in town, swiping people’s stuff and chasing a busload of kids. Seth Worley made this on a reported $3M, and the visuals are wildly inventive for that kind of money. The real stars are Bianca Belle and Kue Lawrence as the siblings, both carrying heavy scenes about missing their mom without going syrupy. The weak spot is the grown-ups: Tony Hale and D’Arcy Carden are fun, but they mostly stand around reacting while the kids run the show. It made $10.3 million worldwide. A 7.9 because it’s a monster movie with a real heart and a kid’s sense of humor. $57.83 says the next kid’s doodle you see on a fridge gets a nervous double take.

What works: Bianca Belle and Kue Lawrence are terrific as grieving siblings, and the monster mayhem is inventive and funny on a tiny budget.

What doesn’t: The adults get almost nothing to do, so Tony Hale and D’Arcy Carden spend their screen time reacting to chaos.

Who it’s for: Families with an artsy kid, and anyone who grew up on eighties adventure movies where the kids save the town.