"Sketch" Trailer: A Child’s Dark Drawings Come to Life in This Dark Fantasy Comedy, Starring Tony Hale, D'Arcy Carden, and Bianca Bell
Tony Hale stars as a concerned father whose daughter’s disturbing drawings unleash terrifying monsters in this twisted and humorous tale of imagination gone wrong.
Children’s artwork is typically innocent and simplistic—little sketches of sunsets, adorable animals, glittered rainbows, and stick figures meant to represent family members. These colorful doodles could easily be hung on the refrigerator door or displayed in the hallway leading to their bedroom. But then again, some children like to scribble cruel drawings of monsters spewing blood, tapping into the darkest corners of their imagination. Normally, there’s nothing to worry about. It’s just an active imagination gone a little wild.
Unless, of course, those hand-drawn monsters represent something far more troubling. What if those monsters could somehow come to life, leaping off the page and into our reality? Now, that’s something to truly worry about… and fear.
This new dark fantasy comedy, Sketch, plays with this spine-tingling scenario of what happens if your child’s hand-drawn crayon-colored monster magically comes to life. The film explores the terrifying—and darkly humorous—consequences of unleashing something straight from the imagination of a young, troubled girl who has turned to drawing to work out her issues.
Emmy-winning actor Tony Hale, of Veep and Arrested Development fame, plays a concerned father who isn’t sure what to think when he discovers his young daughter (played by Bianca Bell) has been drawing disturbing images of blood-eating and blood-puking monsters. At first, he tries to stay calm, hoping it isn’t a sign of anything more upsetting. But as the drawings grow increasingly bizarre and unsettling, he begins to wonder if there's something far darker at play.
And just when he thinks things couldn’t get any weirder, they do. A small booklet containing his daughter’s most private and darkest drawings is thrown into a lake as a cruel prank. But when the booklet resurfaces, a giant blue, glittered, buggy-eyed monster—straight from the girl’s hand-drawn imagination—emerges from the murky waters, bringing her creations to life in a terrifying way.
Co-starring D'Arcy Carden (The Good Place, Barry) as Tony Hale’s wife and the mother of their daughter, the film is written and directed by commercial director Seth Worley, who is making his feature debut.
(Note: You can see a sample of Seth Worley’s incredible commercial work and previous short films at his personal website at sethworley.com)
Sketch premiered last year to rave reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival. Here’s an example of what the critics wrote:
“With his stellar indie family adventure Sketch, commercials director Seth Worley has come up with a creative concept for his feature debut, using imaginative visual effects to impart a valuable lesson about dealing with grief and other strong feelings.”
— Peter Debruge, Variety
“Sketch is a fantastically fun and heartwarming movie with a slathering of weird that makes it a real treat.”
— Kristy Puchko, Mashable
“Sketch rocks a brilliant core concept that is exceptionally well-executed by first-time feature director, Seth Worley. A hugely charming and creative piece that celebrates the itch to make wonderfully weird art.”
— Youtube Critic Perri Nemiroff
Sketch will be coming to theaters on August 6th.