IF is a 2024 hybrid live-action/animated fantasy comedy film written and directed by John Krasinski. It stars Ryan Reynolds, Cailey Fleming, Alan Kim, Bobby Moynihan, and Fiona Shaw, with the voices of Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Krasinski, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Jon Stewart, Awkwafina, Christopher Meloni, Maya Rudolph, Vince Vaughn, Sam Rockwell, Sebastian Maniscalco, Richard Jenkins, Blake Lively, George Clooney, Bradley Cooper, Amy Schumer, Keegan-Michael Key, Matthew Rhys, Vince Vaughn, Louis Gossett Jr.note , and Steve Carell.
The film follows a young girl who discovers she can see the imaginary friends of others and joins with a man with a similar power to help "IFs" abandoned by the children who outgrew them. It's set to premiere on May 17, 2024. Not to be confused with the 1968 British film or the 2020 webcomic based around imaginary friends of the same name. Or both movies called Imaginary and The Imaginary for that matter, although both are under a similar premise with this movie.
IF includes examples of the following:
- Actor Allusion: This isn't Emily Blunt's first time voicing a unicorn character.
- And Starring: Steve Carell gets the "and" credit in the trailer.
- Black Comedy: As the trailer ends, Reynolds and Fleming's characters have an awkward interview with a flaming, melting marshmallow IF and are struggling not to look him in his eye... which promptly falls off his face.
- Ill-Timed Sneeze: Early on in the trailer, a giant, purple IF lets out a massive, echoing sneeze while scoping the room of a child with Reynolds' character.
- Imaginary Friend: Or IF for short. As the trailer shows, the film centers around the abandoned IFs of children who have outgrown them.
- Inkblot Cartoon Style: A female IF named Blossom, who looks like a character from the Silent Age of animation, appears in the trailer.
- Species Title: In a technical sense. IF is stated in the trailer to be short for "Imaginary Friend".
