Imagination just got dangerous: The all-ages monster movie SKETCH
“The movies of our childhood, they were not pulling punches. They were scary.”
From friendly monsters to total mayhem, these kids must race to undo the damage—before their imagination becomes unstoppable…
A new movie in theaters right now—Sketch—aims to recapture the strength of 1980s family movies. That is, being a movie everyone can enjoy, because it includes actual comedy and genuine action with authentic human drama.
“The movies of our childhood,” remarked movie co-star D’Arcy Carden (THE GOOD PLACE), “they were not pulling punches. They were scary.”
Set in a small town on the brink of chaos, Sketch follows two siblings whose wildest doodles burst into reality after a sketchbook falls into a mysterious pond. From friendly monsters to total mayhem, the kids must race to undo the damage—before their imagination becomes unstoppable. Meanwhile, their father fights to find them through the town’s unraveling, determined to bring his family back together.
Written and directed by Seth Worley, Sketch stars Tony Hale, D’Arcy Carden, Bianca Belle, Kue Lawrence, and Kalon Cox.
The all-ages monster movie Sketch, now playing in theaters nationwide, is a “thrilling, heartfelt adventure” that blends emotion with creativity.
“We wanted to make a big, rambunctious, funny, thrilling, sweet thrill ride of a movie,” director Seth Worley told AMC Theatres. “We wanted to make a big popcorn movie that every single human on Earth could find themselves in somehow. And at the same time, we wanted to sneak in this emotionally intelligent character drama.”
“This character was probably closer to me than other characters I’ve done,” star Tony Hale (ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT) told JoBlo Celebrity Access. “I struggle with wanting my kids to not go through challenges, and thinking I’m making the right choice by maybe moving on, when in actuality I need to let my let feelings be processed. So I get it.”
In their interview with JoBlo, stars Hale and Carden talked about how movies in the 1980s could include children—and yet be actual scary adventure movies.
As such, while “family” movies today often make simpler choices, Hale said that for Sketch the filmmakers used the classic movie Goonies as their benchmark.
“We wanted that shared family experience,” Hale said, “where parents weren’t like beating their heads against the wall because they couldn’t watch another movie that [the kids] did. We wanted the comedy to be tight. We wanted the timing to work. So that was a big marker for us.”
“The script was so funny and touching—it was all in the script for this one,” Carden said at the movie premiere. “That can be tricky to act with something that isn’t there. There was something about [director Seth Worley]’s script and confidence with what he was making that us actors never really questioned it. If working with somebody like Seth—who knows exactly what he wants and what he’s going to put up there—I was like, ‘I’ll follow you till the end.’ Because he was so confident that it made it very easy to just say, ‘There’s a monster in the sky right now.’ You can see it.”
“It’s original,” says producer Steve Taylor, “and that’s the thing that Hollywood doesn't make very much anymore. So, that’s exciting.”
“It’s also something that we are hoping will appeal not only to the kids,” added producer Dusty Brown, “but to the parents and maybe even the grandparents.”
Video playlist: Sketch trailers, interviews, and movie clip
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A new monster family movie aims to recapture the strength of 1980s family movies. “The movies of our childhood, they were not pulling punches. They were scary.”