Parents' Guide to Sketch

A wonderful movie with amazing monsters, this smartly written, sharply edited, kid-friendly fantasy tale is funny, exciting, great-looking, and packed with strong messages about expressing feelings. The feature writing and directing debut of Seth Worley, Sketch wins viewers over almost right away with a scene in the counselor's office. Hale's comic reaction to Amber's violent drawing, the counselor's assertion that Amber should keep drawing (rather than be punished), the introduction of the notebook with a curious cat on the cover, and the way Amber says "Do you have a pen?" before smash-cutting to the title come together just about perfectly.

Sketch instinctively sidesteps all the little pitfalls that can make some kid-targeted adventures feel shrill and irritating, instead finding ways to be funny and lovable. Even the Bowman character, whose entire job is to be shrill and irritating, is funny and lovable. The kid actors are just right, neither overacting nor underacting; Hale finds a nice balance between his typical style of comedy and portraying an empathetic soul; and co-star D'Arcy Carden (Janet from The Good Place) adds another layer of snappy humor and insightful emotion as Taylor's sister, Liz. But best of all are the monsters. The movie's visual effects are deliberately imperfect, mimicking the style of a child's drawings, in pencil, markers, crayons, or chalk, with rough edges. And the colorful smears and smudges of monster tracks (or remains) become enchanting decorations on all the sets, clothes, and faces. Sketch is a special movie that could easily become a much rewatched favorite.