Coming to a theater near you on August 6, 2025 is the fun, family adventure film, Sketch.
The film stars of Tony Hale (“Arrested Development”), D’Arcy Carden (“The Good Place”), Bia Belle (Lady in the Lake), Kue Lawrence (Beautiful Boy), Kalon Cox (Preschool in LA), and writer/director Seth Worley making his feature debut.
The film was a hit at last year’s TIFF and Angel Studios will now be releasing it in theaters nationwide August 6, 2025.
Normally I write my own film synopsis, but I feel like the official one for Sketch is much more to the point than I would have written, plus it doesn’t give away too much spoilers.
At its heart, SKETCH is a touching family story about love, loss, and the strength found in self-expression. Grief and creativity collide when single dad (Hale), still reeling from the unexpected loss of his wife, navigates uncharted territory with his daughter, who is grappling with the sudden loss of her mother and retreats into her art as a way to cope with her overwhelming emotions. But as her drawings turn darker, so does the world around her. When her sketches begin to come to life, strange and terrifying figures emerge, unleashing chaos on her small town. With the help of her father and a few loyal friends, she must learn to face her feelings and find healing within herself.
Grief is hard enough for anyone to have to deal with, especially when it’s the sudden loss of a loved one. My father died suddenly in May of this year, and I have still yet to process the grief properly. It’s much harder for a child. My husband can relate because his father died suddenly of a heart attack when my husband was only eleven years old.
Amber (Belle) deals with the grief by drawing. She has a hard time communicating how she feels to her father, who is also finding it difficult to process himself, let alone being thrust into the role of a single parent. Amber’s brother, Jack, seems to be processing it better than anyone, but he still misses his mom dearly.
While it’s okay for Amber to draw out her feelings, her drawings start to get more eerie and scary (no sunshine and rainbows, that’s for sure). While concerning, the adults in Amber’s life are not sure what to do about it.
I work with children and I have long been interested in Art Therapy. I took a symposium on it back when I was in college and I always found it fascinating. It’s something I’d love to get certified for, but sadly I’d need to have a Masters Degree first (I never completed my Bachelors Degree). You can utilize many types of art mediums to help with things you are dealing with, from drawing to painting and from ceramics to music. Not to mention just about anything else art-like.
One day Amber’s sketch book finds it’s way into a magical pond which ends up turning her drawings – no matter how creepy – into real life monsters. One is a giant, fuzzy, long-legged pom-pom looking thing and some of the others include these wonky looking spider creatures.
So how to you turn real living drawings from a young girl’s imagination back on to the paper and not terrorizing the town? To find out you need to go see Sketch. Look for Sketch at a theater near you.
I actually saw the trailer for this film many months ago. The first time I saw it I knew it was a film I’d want to see. I may be an adult, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy family-friendly films. Heck, my husband and I go see animated films meant for kids/families even though we’re in our 50’s and our kids are adults (our kids don’t go with us).
I really enjoyed this film. It’s refreshingly creative. So many films seem to have a plot line that is copies and pasted from other films, so when something completely original and very creative comes along, I love it.
This film had my interest from start to finish.
I especially enjoyed the creatures that came to life from Amber’s sketch book. They look just like her doodles. What might look creepy on a page in a book doesn’t seem as scary in person – except when it’s the size of a house (ha ha).
I used to draw a lot as a child. As I watched this film I couldn’t help but think about how much fun it would be if my doodles came to life. I know you can have plush toys made from your child’s drawings, but imagine if it was turned into something real. That’s pretty cool. I wonder if other children think that way.
The characters in this film were all very likable. I think that helped with the film too. You have to “feel” for Amber and her family and their situation in order to appreciate the underlying part of this film which is loss, grief, and family.
This film has a run time of just a wee bit over an hour and a half (enough time to entertain kids without being too long for them). It’s considered a fantasy/comedy and has a movie rating of PG. I personally didn’t find any of the living doodles scary, very little kids might.
Below is the film’s trailer for your entertainment.
Kimberly
*I received a free screener for this film in order to do a review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
