Is this the year of the bear in horror films?

First there was the drugged-up ursine menace in Cocaine Bear, then Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey came for our childhood memories, soon to be followed by the mechanical murder bear in Five Nights at Freddy’s. Now Blumhouse/Lionsgate wants audiences to jump at the sight of the grisly terror teddy in Imaginary.

Imaginary stars DeWanda Wise (Jurassic Park: Dominion), as Jessica, a woman returning to live in her childhood home with her family. As they move in, Jessica’s stepdaughter Alice (Pyper Braun) finds Chauncey, a stuffed bear that had been left behind in the basement. It soon becomes obvious that this is no ordinary bear as Chauncey starts to drive Alice to do ever more dangerous deeds.

According to the film’s synopsis, Imaginary is “an original horror film that taps into the innocence of imaginary friends – and begs the question: Are they really figments of childhood imagination or is something more terrifying lying just beneath?”

Imaginary is directed by Jeff Wadlow (Kick-Ass 2, Truth or Dare)  from a script he cowrote with Greg Erb, Jason Oremland, and Bryce McGuire. The movie also stars Tom Payne, Taegen Burns, Veronica Falcon, and Betty Buckley.

Bears may be a recurring antagonist in films this year, but there are many examples of terrifying imaginary friends becoming all too real in cinema, including Tony from under the bed in The Shining, Frank the Rabbit in Donnie Darko, storybook nightmare The Babadook, and of course, Drop Dead Fred. There are even people who believe that they can will their imaginary companions, known as Tulpas, into existence – horrifying, if true.

Wadlow agrees with the frightening implications of setting free the worst our imagination has to offer, In a statement to Deadline he said that he and DeWise worked together to bring Imaginary to life, saying Wise “has been more than a star on this movie – she has been a full creative partner. So much of horror grows out of our most basic fears from childhood, and DeWanda taps into all of that. You know that old saying that the audience’s imagination is scarier than any movie? We’re going to put that to the test.”

If you think you can bear (ha) the terror, see Imaginary in theaters beginning March 8th, 2024.