Is IF (2024) Too Scary For Kids? A Spoiler-Free Answer For Parents

Is Paramount’s IF (2024) movie too scary or sad for kids? A lot of parents are asking that question as IF (2024) opens in theaters – and we have the spoiler-free answer to share! 

What Is IF (2024) About? 

From writer and director John Krasinski, IF is about a young girl named Bea, who has been going through a troubling experience in her life, unexpectedly gains the ability to see people’s imaginary friends (referred to as “IFs” for short) who have been abandoned by the kids they helped. Bea then discovers that her neighbor, Cal, has the same ability. Together they join forces to reunite the IFs with their former kids.

That’s a nice, whimsical, synopsis – but it doesn’t necessarily let parents in on the fact that IF tackles serious subject matter that may be too intense for younger children. Although the film has a PG rating, it’s in the details of that rating that the devil lies: “Rated PG for thematic elements and mild language.”

Is IF (2024) Too Scary or Sad For Kids? 

Those “thematic elements” warned about in the PG rating for IF have to do with the premise of the story. The young protagonist, Bea (Cailey Fleming), is a girl going through the unthinkable trauma of having lost a parent while having the other parent facing a perilous health scare. It’s the stress of that situation that makes Bea seek comfort and purpose in the plight of the Imaginary Friends. 

When IF takes that detour into the coping and healing power of fanciful imagination through its menagerie of Imaginary Friends, the film is great for kids. However, it is admittedly a hard entryway into the film, with director John Krasinski giving viewers a UP-style montage of happy family experiences that end in deep tragedy. If that isn’t a portion of the film that’s too emotionally stressful for young kids (6 or younger), then it is arguably too “adult” and dramatic to really grab their attention – until the colorful IF characters start showing up. Similarly, the ending of IF requires that viewers once again leave all the imaginative fun behind and deal with the real-world stakes that Bea has to deal with. 

There’s nothing in these bookending portions of IF that is inherently bad or disturbing for kids; however, parents of young ones may want to be aware of these elements in the film BEFORE determining whether or not it’s suitable for the family. 

Ironically enough, all of the aforementioned content in IF’s story is arguably more upsetting for parents, who may find concepts like untimely deaths, leaving a child orphaned, or anxiety about health concerns, stressful in a family film experience. 

IF (2024) is now showing in theaters.