Sketch – Review

Taylor Wyatt (Hale) is doing what he can as a widowed dad with two small kids, Amber (Belle) and Jack (Lawrence). The kids do their best to process their mother’s passing, with Amber diving into her artwork, which she always enjoyed, however turns from happier imagery to scarier monsters, like

Amber gets in trouble at school for “concerning” pictures, including demon looking monsters ripping off a boy’s head, dripping blood down into pools below. As dangerous as the picture sounds, it’s actually somewhat fun. The school counselor asks Amber if the picture is based on a real person, which she confirms it is. The counselor agrees that drawing is actually a good outlet instead of actually acting on angry or negative feelings. Amber continues to harness her inner creatively destructive violence into her drawings, which thrive. Amber’s journal explodes into massively crazy sketches of creatures and colorful monsters. But, it’s just a journal, and it can’t hurt anyone, right?

Her brother Jack is heading home through the woods but trips and drops his phone into a lake. Oh no! But strangely this lake is definitely not normal, and his phone comes out good as new, same with a scratch on his hand. Odd… Maybe it is a magic lake?!?

As life trucks along for the Wyatts, Taylor’s sister Liz (Carden) focuses on her real estate career, and Amber scribbles, draws, paints, glitters and more. Amber does her best to reconcile with the mother she misses, and her growing love of channeling her feelings into her journal.

So, then naturally things go awry in the most insane way. As Amber’s journal accidentally meets the magical lake that Jack discovered, her young imaginations come to life, springing all sorts of crazy beings into the real world. Now the family must deal with the fallout of Amber’s creative yet destructive mind.

Sketch is really solid, and funny despite its aim at a younger audience. The idea behind the script is sound, and the execution is pretty entertaining. The kids are actually likeable unlike plenty of films, and their dialogue is smart, clever and full of jokey quips. I feel like most people should be able to enjoy this movie since it is fairly harmless and a solid comedy.