When the Angel Studios logo first appeared, my expectations dipped. The studio’s output has long leaned toward faith-based fare that often substitutes sentimentality for substance. Yet with his feature debut, Sketch, Seth Worley sidesteps much of that predictability, offering a family-friendly horror film with a surprisingly thoughtful core.
Tony Hale plays Taylor, a newly widowed father to Amber (Bianca Belle), a gifted yet troubled young artist, and Jack (Kue Lawrence), an adventurous gamer. Following her mother’s death, Amber’s once-innocent sketches take on a macabre edge. Encouraged to “put it right where it can’t hurt anyone,” she channels her grief into increasingly disturbing drawings, though the line between art and reality begins to blur.
Worley’s most compelling choice is framing Amber’s creativity as both a coping mechanism and a window into her psyche. The film subtly contrasts her open emotional processing with her father’s and brother’s repression, raising quiet questions about the gendered stigma surrounding vulnerability. While the film’s picture-book monsters aren’t particularly frightening, the metaphor of art as a safe release is poignant and accessible, especially for younger audiences.
The film is not without flaws: its tonal shifts can be jarring, and the narrative occasionally meanders. However, its Gen Alpha-oriented pop culture references land with the target audience, and the young leads carry the film with charm and sincerity. Sketch may lack the polish of more seasoned family horror, but it offers a disarming blend of light scares, emotional resonance, and cultural relevance.
