17 Imaginary Friends In Movies Who Make A Real Impact On The Plot
- 126 VOTESPhoto: 20th Century Fox
The Imaginary Friend: When the unnamed Narrator (Edward Norton) of Fight Club suffers from insomnia due to general dissatisfaction with his job and life, it results in the creation of Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt). For much of the runtime, the Narrator believes Tyler is a living person others can see, unaware he is only a manifestation of his own repressed thoughts and desires. The two become fast friends, despite having opposite personalities, forming an underground fight ring together.
His Impact: Influenced by the lifestyle and belief systems of Tyler Durden, the Narrator drastically alters his own approach to existence. He gives up his modern apartment to move into Tyler's rundown home and begins to give in to base impulses. Not only does he have conversations with Tyler that impact his decisions, but his charismatic imaginary friend also completely takes control of his body when he's asleep (or believes he's asleep). Although the Narrator seems content with the fight club, Tyler is determined to escalate the mayhem.
- 216 VOTES
Drop Dead Fred In 'Drop Dead Fred'
Photo: New Line CinemaThe Imaginary Friend: As a child, Elizabeth Cronin (Ashley Peldon) has a mischievous imaginary friend named Drop Dead Fred (Rik Mayall), but he becomes trapped in a jack-in-the-box by her overbearing mother (Marsha Mason). When Elizabeth discovers the toy after being forced to move back in with her mother as an adult (Phoebe Cates), she inadvertently unleashes the imaginary childhood friend back into the world.
His Impact: Despite his best intentions, Fred’s immature presence initially only brings chaos to Elizabeth's life. Eventually, he also proves helpful to her efforts to find independence from her unfaithful husband (Tim Matheson), alerting her about his continuing affair with another woman. Once Fred has achieved this, he moves on to be the imaginary friend of another child.
- 320 VOTES
Frank The Rabbit In 'Donnie Darko'
Photo: Newmarket FilmsThe Imaginary Friend: Woken up by an inhuman voice late one night, Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) is called outside his home where he discovers Frank, a man dressed in a monstrous rabbit costume. While existing as an imaginary friend that only Donnie can see, Frank also exists in the real world as his sister’s boyfriend, Frank Anderson (James Duval). In the future, Anderson dies on Halloween while wearing the rabbit costume, and his spirit travels back from the future to guide Donnie as Frank the Rabbit.
His Impact: Frank first reveals himself to tell Donnie that the world will end in “28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds.” He then appears throughout the film to give instructions to Donnie, directing him to vandalize the high school and burn down the house of a local motivational speaker (Patrick Swayze) who has a deeply troubling secret. There is evidence that Frank is guiding Donnie to certain events so that he will eventually travel back in time to alter a defining moment in the narrative.
- 419 VOTESPhoto: Fox Searchlight Pictures
The Imaginary Friend: Growing up in Germany during the final years of WWII, 10-year-old Johannes "Jojo" Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis) creates an imaginary friend in the form of an amiable version of Adolf Hitler (Taika Waititi) to build confidence and cope with being a loner.
His Impact: Adolf’s influence on Jojo is apparent early in the narrative when he convinces the young boy to throw a live hand grenade while attending a training camp for the junior section of the Hitler Youth organization. This incident leaves Jojo injured, but not at all deterred from taking the advice of his imaginary friend. It isn’t until the young boy is exposed to the inhumanity of the regime that he begins to push back against Adolf’s beliefs.
- 516 VOTESPhoto: Warner Bros.
The Imaginary Friend: Tony is an unseen imaginary friend said to live inside the mouth of 5-year-old Danny Torrance (Danny Lloyd), sometimes hiding in his stomach. Tony speaks through Danny, only appearing in the form of his wagging index finger. Although Danny’s parents believe Tony is merely an imaginary playmate, it is implied by his ability to give the child visions that there is a supernatural aspect to Tony.
His Impact: The visions that Danny receives from Tony affect his decision-making throughout the narrative, often warning him of an impending threat. Although it is never explicitly stated, there are indications that Danny’s psychic abilities (referred to as “shining”) may come from Tony.
- 613 VOTESPhoto: Universal Pictures
The Imaginary Friend: Harvey is the invisible best friend of the good-natured Elwood P. Dowd (James Stewart), a man who enjoys socializing and introducing people to the companion only he can see. Despite others being unable to see him, Dowd describes Harvey as a 6-foot white rabbit, believing him to be a mythical creature known as a "pooka." According to Dowd, the two met during a heavy night of drinking at a local bar.
His Impact: Dowd’s insistence upon Harvey’s existence results in his sister (Josephine Hull) attempting to have him committed to a sanatorium. When a treatment is formulated to remove Dowd’s ability to see his invisible friend, it is implied that Harvey intervenes, so it gets stopped in time. Harvey’s ability to befriend one of the institution’s psychiatrists is another indicator that he may exist beyond the mind of Dowd.
- Photo: Paramount Pictures
The Imaginary Friend: When film critic Allan Felix (Woody Allen) reenters the world of dating following a divorce, he manifests Humphrey Bogart’s character of Rick Blaine (played by Jerry Lacy) from the film Casablanca to give him advice. Only Felix is aware of Bogart’s presence, donning the iconic hat and trench coat.
His Impact: Bogart’s ghostly appearance aids Felix in gaining confidence to date again, just as the plot of Casablanca motivates a sacrificial decision from the critic after he falls in love with his best friend’s wife (Diane Keaton). Ultimately, it takes attempting to be Bogart for Felix to learn the importance of being himself, especially once he has fulfilled the dream of acting out the final moment of his favorite film.
- 89 VOTES
Bosco and Mr. Whiskers In 'The Voices'
Photo: Lionsgate FilmsThe Imaginary Friends: When schizophrenic factory worker Jerry (Ryan Reynolds) stops taking his medication, it results in his pets talking to him. His dog Bosco is generally good-natured, while his cat Mr. Whiskers has a depraved outlook on life; together the two symbolize the angel and devil on Jerry’s shoulders.
Their Impact: When Jerry accidentally kills a co-worker Fiona (Gemma Arterton), Mr. Whiskers convinces him to cut her remains into pieces to hide his mistake. Fiona’s severed head then begins talking, instructing him to kill again so that she will have company. Jerry nearly follows through with this order when he meets a new girl named Lisa (Anna Kendrick).
- 93 VOTESPhoto: Warner Bros. Pictures
The Imaginary Friend: Bogus (Gérard Depardieu) is a French magician who emerges from the pages of a coloring book to be an imaginary friend for Albert Franklin (Haley Joel Osment) as he copes with the recent loss of his mother.
His Impact: When Albert is sent to live with his mother’s half-sister Harriet (Whoopi Goldberg), Bogus lightens the mood and helps him adjust. Harriet is a businesswoman with no experience dealing with children. Eventually even Harriet can see Bogus, which helps her build a bond with Albert.
- 103 VOTES
The Monster In 'A Monster Calls'
Photo: Focus FeaturesThe Imaginary Friend: Twelve-year-old Conor O'Malley (Lewis MacDougall) is visited by a monster in the form of a giant anthropomorphic yew tree (Liam Neeson) as he comes to terms with the impending demise of his ailing mother (Felicity Jones). When he looks through his mother’s old drawings, Conor discovers she was also visited by the monster as a child.
His Impact: When the monster tells Conor three stories, they serve as inspiration for the young teen to act out repressed emotions in his own life. He defiantly vandalizes items belonging to his grandmother (Sigourney Weaver) and lashes out against an aggressive peer (James Melville). The monster then demands Conor tell him a story, allowing the boy to unburden himself over the guilt of letting his mother go.
- 115 VOTESPhoto: Focus Features
The Imaginary Friend: Housewife and mother of three children Marlo Moreau (Charlize Theron) is overwhelmed by the various aspects of parenthood, until the arrival of a night nanny named Tully (Mackenzie Davis). Although Marlo believes her to be real for much of the film, Tully is actually a manifestation of her freer younger self, created from the stress of motherhood paired with extreme sleep deprivation and exhaustion.
Her Impact: Tully removes stress from Marlo's life by helping with menial tasks around the house, while also aiding in the stagnant romance between her husband (Ron Livingston) by initiating a threesome. Tully (which is revealed to be Marlo's maiden name) allows the housewife to recapture elements of who she was before she became a mother.
- 126 VOTESPhoto: Warner Bros.
The Imaginary Friend: When Elvis Presley fanatic Clarence Worley (Christian Slater) meets a woman named Alabama (Patricia Arquette) while at the movies on his birthday, she admits to being a call girl. Worley manifests an apparition of Elvis (played by Val Kilmer) to work through problems and decide his course of action.
His Impact: Convinced by Elvis, Clarence kills Alabama’s pimp (Gary Oldman) and the couple escapes Detroit. Pursued for a large amount of narcotics inadvertently taken from the mob, the couple flees to Los Angeles, where the advice from Elvis helps Clarence survive a bloodbath during an attempt to sell the stuff.
- Photo: Image Entertainment
The Imaginary Friend: When he suffers a nervous breakdown while working on a campaign for a pimple cream, advertising executive Denis Dimbleby Bagley (Richard E. Grant) develops a boil on his shoulder that becomes sentient. The boil (voiced by Bruce Robinson) evolves into a fully formed face offering cynical views about Bagley’s chosen profession.
His Impact: When Bagley attempts to have the boil removed, it grows into a replica of his own head and replaces him as the one in control. Bagley’s original head is lanced, appearing as a passive boil on the opposite shoulder, and the callous persona of the original boil takes over the executive’s life.
- 145 VOTESPhoto: IFC Films
The Imaginary Friend: Dealing with a series of difficult situations, postman Eric Bishop (Steve Evets) is considering ending his own life. After smoking his stepson’s weed, Bishop begins to hallucinate his favorite soccer player, Eric Cantona (playing himself).
His Impact: Cantona gives Bishop philosophical advice, improving his situation so that he begins to enjoy life again. Bishop is also inspired by his manifested idol to handle a local gangster by pulling a prank involving dozens of soccer fans wearing masks of Cantona’s face.
- Photo: 20th Century Fox
The Imaginary Friends: When exterminator William Lee (Peter Weller) begins to hallucinate after being exposed to mind-altering insecticides, he becomes entangled in a world of espionage involving talking bugs. Tasked with writing a report about a mission, Lee discovers his typewriter is also an insect.
Their Impact: Lee is first approached by a giant beetle with orders to eliminate his own wife (Judy Davis), which he unintentionally accomplishes. He is next given instructions by his typewriter, which leads Lee to a doppelgänger of his deceased wife and a scientist responsible for a drug made from the guts of giant Brazilian centipedes.
- 163 VOTES
Captain Excellent In 'Paper Man'
Photo: MPI Media GroupThe Imaginary Friend: Failed novelist Richard Dunn (Jeff Daniels) moves to a small beach community on Long Island to try and overcome his writer's block, bringing with him his childhood imaginary superhero friend, Captain Excellent (Ryan Reynolds).
His Impact: There are indications that Richard's inability to let go of his imaginary friend may have something to do with his own failures, both in his writing and in his marriage. While building a platonic connection with a local girl (Emma Stone) who secretly has an imaginary friend of her own (Kieran Culkin), Dunn learns to engage more with the real world. In the end, Richard must let go of Captain Excellent so he can move forward in his life.
- Photo: IFC Films
The Imaginary Friends: Sixteen-year-old Johanna Morrigan aspires to be a famous writer, finding comfort in a wall containing living portraits of her many idols. Many hanging on the wall are writers, including Sylvia Plath (Lucy Punch) and the Brontë sisters (Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins), but it also contains psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (Michael Sheen), actress Elizabeth Taylor (Lily Allen), musician Bjork (Patsy Ferran), and Cleopatra (Jameela Jamil).
Their Impact: When Johanna makes a mistake that results in lost income for her family, she takes a job as a freelance rock critic for a London publication. Each time she faces a setback in this new career, Johanna turns to her wall of idols for advice and support.
