TIFF 2024 Review: Sketch
Sketch (2024)
Directed by Seth Worley
Starring D’Arcy Carden, Kue Lawrence, Bianca Bell and Kalon Cox
As seen at the film’s world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). All images courtesy of TIFF.
I feel sorry for kids these days. If they want to watch fantastical coming-of-age live-action stories, they usually have to commit to an entire series like Stranger Things on Netflix or a franchise like Harry Potter. Stand-alone original films, which were common in my youth, are now rare. Films like The NeverEnding Story (1984), The Goonies (1985), and Labyrinth (1986) were once popular and lucrative for studios, which now seem to invest all resources for such stories into animated films. Sketch is a throwback to those live-action films of my youth but with an added element: technology that brings the fantastical to life in a new, inventive way.
In this first film from Seth Worley, CGI is used perfectly—not to recreate realism, but to bring children’s drawings to life. Straight from the paper, using mediums like chalk, crayon, and marker, fantastical creatures emerge that are perfectly suited for a modestly budgeted film. I hope every parent can see this movie with their child, not just for the extraordinary artistry but also for the thoughtful script about loss and mourning. The story is delivered earnestly by adults Tony Hale (Arrested Development) and D’Arcy Carden (The Good Place), and with exuberance by a trio of child actors who form the film’s comic core.
I laughed, I cried (more laughing than crying, I promise), and when the film ended, I wanted to live in that world for more than the mere 90 minutes it offered. But before we can even think of a sequel, people need to take their kids in droves to see this perfect family movie. It has irreverent kids, silly adults, and fantastical monsters. I’m glad they titled it Sketch and not The NeverEnding Goonie Labyrinth.
Highly Recommended.