I was never much of a draw-er when I was a kid, but I did experience grief. I was only twelve when my two-year-old sister died. I was definitely more like Jack (Kue Lawrence), in the new movie, Sketch, trying to fix everything for my younger sibling.
Jack and Amber (Bianca Belle) have just lost their mother, and now-single Dad, Taylor (Tony Hale) must deal with helping his kids through their grief. Liz (D’Arcy Carden), Taylor’s sister, is letting him know in no uncertain terms that he’s not doing a very good job of it.
Taylor doesn’t quite know what to do when he’s called to Amber’s school. Her teachers are concerned about the darkness evident in her drawings. Only the school psychologist seems copacetic with the way Amber is throwing all her feelings about her mother’s death into her drawings.
One day, Jack discovers a magic pond behind their house when he drops his broken phone in the water. Fishing it out, he’s amazed that it works again, practically brand new. Hoping that Amber will act “normal” again if their Mom were back, he attempts to put his mother’s ashes in the pond, only to be foiled by Amber, whose sketchbook falls in instead.
Writer-director Seth Worley sends the characters on a silly but profound adventure when Amber’s monsters come to life and start attacking the town. Since she is the one who gave them all backstories, only she can figure out how to defeat them, with help from her family and the school bully, Bowman (Kalon Cox), who’s just trying to save his rear end after the school bus comes under attack.
While a fun adventure for kids and grown-ups, Sketch touches on deep themes such as grieving (especially grieving children) and being able to express one’s feelings. At one point, Jack tells his sister that she’s not an evil person just because she’s drawing monsters that eat blood and steal stuff. Her Dad tells Amber, “Life is all about balancing the good and the bad; if you don’t carry the good with you, it just makes the bad stronger.”
The film reminded me of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood of years past, where Fred Rogers tried to teach kids about the importance of expressing their emotions. Amber does just that and, in the process, teaches those around her that they need to do the same.
My one difficulty with the film is that Taylor didn’t believe Amber when she first told him what was happening. OK, I get it. Believing that your kid’s drawings were coming to life, would be a bit of a stretch. However, I think it’s important for kids to know that when they tell a trusted adult something bad is happening, that adult needs to believe them. Having Taylor believe Amber from the get-go (even if he would have to independently verify!) would have sent a strong message. Perhaps this was a missed opportunity.
Nevertheless, Sketch makes for fun family fare and just might be an opportunity to talk with kids about not being afraid to express their feelings, especially in constructive, creative ways, like Amber did.