‘IF’ Trailer: Ryan Reynolds Hangs Out With His Imaginary Friends

As a director, John Krasinski is known primarily for making bleak horror movies; his A Quiet Place series have become a major franchise, and turned Krasinski from a likable TV star into a major mainstream filmmaker. But of course, Krasinski was first known for TV and comedy. So his new movie, IF, is perhaps less of a swerve than it might seem.

In it, Krasinski teams with Ryan Reynolds for a family film that Krasinski himself both wrote and directed. It begins with the notion that kids’ imaginary friends are real, and proceeds from there with this question: What happens to kids’ imaginary friends after they stop imagining them? (In this case, “IF” is an acronym for “imaginary friend.”)

You can get a sense of what happens next in the trailer below:

Here is the film’s official synopsis:

From writer and director John Krasinski, IF is about a girl who discovers that she can see everyone’s imaginary friends — and what she does with that superpower — as she embarks on a magical adventure to reconnect forgotten IFs with their kids. IF stars Ryan Reynolds, John Krasinski, Cailey Fleming, Fiona Shaw, and the voices of Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Louis Gossett Jr. and Steve Carell alongside many more as the wonderfully unique characters that reflect the incredible power of a child’s imagination.

The YouTube description of this video mentions that it also comes from “the studio trought you Annihilation.” What? That was a disturbing sci-fi horror movie. This is (seemingly) a charming children’s film. Is it secretly a disturbing sci-fi horror movie? Do the IFs turn on the humans at some point? Do the IFs come from the Shimmer???

IF is scheduled to open in theaters on May 17, 2024.