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- NAKM: Sept. 1, 2025
NAKM: Sept. 1, 2025
Is the Film Sketch Sketch? and Recs to Connect from the Couch
Brendan Knapp
September 01, 2025
The Couch Connection
As kids go back to school, they’ll reconnect with other kids and learn how to emotionally interpret the world through those young and inexperienced guides. It’s like the blind leading the blind.
As a parent, you need to make sure you’re fulfilling that role at home. We parents can struggle to interact with our kids as we adult — the work stuff, the social stuff, and the trauma we all feel can distract from our duties.
Don’t worry. There's a cheat code.
Movies present opportunities to connect, if you’re present. That means no headphones. No phone games. In fact, no phone at all. Treat family film night at home like a movie theater.
Earlier this year, I featured a quote from Martin Scorsese that talks about the power of sharing films with family.
“I realize now that the warmth of that connection with my family and with the images on the screen gave me something very precious. We were experiencing something fundamental together. We were living through the emotional truths on the screen…These were things that we normally couldn’t discuss or wouldn’t discuss or even acknowledge in our lives.”
That truth is just as real today. Family film night is an opportunity to connect. You need to remember that little being next to you isn’t just a goofball giggling along to Dog Man chasing a squirrel while you scroll through Instagram videos of women frying chunks of meat in vats of oil.
That little being is on a journey — and you’re either with them or you’re not. Physical proximity doesn’t matter. It’s the shared experience that teaches them how to navigate emotions.
Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions (pictured below) features eight primary emotions: anger, anticipation, joy, trust, fear, surprise, sadness and disgust.
Courtesy: Psych Central
Each emotion has a polar opposite that sits across the wheel:
Joy is the opposite of Sadness.
Fear is the opposite of Anger.
Anticipation is the opposite of Surprise.
Trust is the opposite of Disgust.
The ebb and flow of a good movie will push your child across the wheel. It’s your job to guide them and keep them balanced. How? By being present.
All emotions serve a purpose. They need to know how to navigate each one. You show them by being into a movie. Committing to the moment. That commitment shows up in small ways:
You laugh. You jump. You squeeze a hand. You snuggle. You recoil saying, “Gross.” It’s all being absorbed.
You’re teaching. They’re learning. You’re setting a strong foundation of emotional stability. They’ll take that to school. They can build off what you’ve silently taught them from the couch — and use those emotional skills around their peers.
And, if you look closely at Plutchik’s wheel, you’ll notice that when primary emotions are combined, they become more complex and powerful emotions. The one that catches my eye?
Joy + Trust = Love.
This week I’m sharing several films that will take you and your child on a journey across the wheel of emotions.
Be a good parent. Sit on the couch. Turn off your phone. Connect. Teach.
Because, in the end, showing up is not enough. Attention matters more than location. And the attention you offer at home is what gives them the confidence to handle the world out there.
Brendan
My Pint-Sized Review of Sketch
I first got wind of Sketch while putting together the Summer Movie Preview. The trailer hooked me with its mix of horror and comedy all in a family-friendly framing.
At the end of the trailer, I saw something sketch: The logo for Angel. It’s a film studio and distributor behind several overtly Christian films. Good news — it turns out the studio is dipping its toes outside the holy waters that once drowned its films’ credibility. Angel saw an opportunity for Sketch to ascend beyond its holy form and dropped a couple of million dollars into the distribution basket.
Sketch is not a Christian movie. It does have an attempted resurrection — but not the Easter kind. And the only holy water is a bubbling blue pond that fixes broken things; sort of.
The family at the center of Sketch needs some fixing. The story kicks off after the kids’ mother died. There’s a notable absence of her in their house. No pictures on the wall. No mementos. Not even any conversations about mom.
But the daughter is expressing herself. She sketches violent images in a notepad. Her father sees these disturbing images and, along with her brother, decide she needs to be fixed.
I’d call Sketch gateway horror – but this film would have R.L. Stine crapping his pants. First-time feature director Seth Worley hits you with all of the horror tricks. He uses music and sound straight from horror classics even during non-horror moments. It’s playful and fun. But when the horror really kicks in, he doesn’t hold back.
The daughter has drawn horrifying sketches of creatures from the darkest recesses of her mind. When her notebook falls into the magic pond, those creatures come into existence. Worley uses these delightful creations to terrorize the children in this film. The chases, the jump scares, the frenzied critters, the slow reveals — all are executed precisely to make you jump and crawl in your seat, even though the creatures are Crayon, chalk, or marker creations.
Sketch is about more than scares though. It’s about the struggle of recovering from trauma. As we see here, hiding from reality doesn’t help. Expressing yourself does.
Art heals. Constructive creativity heals. Expressions that expose yourself to the world open you up to be healed.
When you don’t confront grief and trauma through positive expression or public acknowledgement, that grief and trauma will express itself in unpredictable and negative ways.
I’m stunned that most studios passed on this film. It’s so much better than that Christian-tinted movie about purple Crayons or the creature-come-to-life-through-Crayons film made by Jim from The Office.
Kudos to Angel for embracing Sketch. It’s not religious. It has a moral. But it never feels too in-your-face.
Have a little sip of the blood of Christ (don’t forget to aerate!). But be warned, at any moment a jump scare or dry one-liner may cause you to spit it out.
In theaters: Now in limited release
Rating: PG (Me: 7+)
Director: Seth Worley
Starring: Tony Hale, D’Arcy Carden, Bianca Belle, Kue Lawrence
Run time: 1h 32m
Post-credits scenes: A mid-credits marketing video shows off an app your kids might actually like. It’s a monster maker that turns your sketch into monsters on your phone. A member of the NAKM community highly recommends it.
Bathroom breaks: Sorry, I wasn’t keeping track, I was having too a good of a time. And RunPee didn’t track this film.
Sequel? I’d love that, but doubt it. This is likely just a one-off.
If you liked Sketch, check out these films (scaling from least scary to scariest):
The Imaginary (2023) (6+)
Inkheart (2008) (6+)
Goosebumps (2015) (6+)
Where the Wild Things Are (2009) (6+)
A Monster Calls (2016) (9+)
Paperhouse (1988) (9+)
The Babadook (2014) (10+)
Fresh Cuts
The latest family films to hit all screens. Not all are for all ages. Not all are winners. Watch at your own risk!
Streaming 🛜
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In Theaters 📽️
(Sep. 5) The Conjuring: Last Rites
(Sep. 5) The Legend of Hei 2
(Sep. 7) The Breakfast Club (1985 re-release) (9+)
(Sep. 12) Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
(Sep. 12) Spinal Tap II: The End Continues
(Sep. 12) The Sound of Music (1965 re-release) (6+)
(Sep. 12) Toy Story (1995 re-release) (4+)
On Disc 📀
(Sep. 9) Jurassic World: Rebirth (2025) (10+)
(Sep. 9) Elio (2025) (5+)
(Sep. 9) From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (2025) (12+)
News You Can Use (and Sometimes Booze)
Netflix: Kpop Demon Hunters becomes Netflix’s most-watched original movie in just three months. The sing-along, which I attended, also earned the top box office spot during its two-day release. And the song “Golden” reached Number One on the Billboard Hot 100. You better believe Netflix will franchise the film. Hopefully they don’t rush it and screw it up.
Twilight: The vampire teen love saga will return to theaters this fall. That means all five films. And more reason for Twilighters to rejoice — an animated series reboot from the perspective of Edward is in the works at Netflix.
Potter: “What’s the point?” Chris Columbus, the man who directed the first two Harry Potter films, questioned the point of the upcoming HBO series while on The Rest is Entertainment podcast. He says it’ll just be more of the same after getting a look at Hagrid’s coat — which is exactly the same. I’d like to see the series takes on the tone of the third film, which is much darker than the Columbus films. Though, hopefully we someday see more films and series that explore the universe beyond the J.K. Rowling framework.
Beer: AI is <sigh> making beer. Beck’s, also known as the bottom in a black and tan relationship, used AI-created formula to create a citrusy IPA. No one is losing their jobs. Beck’s just wants to spark a little creativity and is using LLMs to help. I personally am looking forward to their new Skynet Hazy.
Papa Do Preach!
“You will be grown before that tree is tall.”
Let’s Get Rec’d!
Check my list before you wreck yourself next family film night.
Keepin’ It Real
The Black Stallion (1979) (6+)
It’s hard to say what stands out most about The Black Stallion. Caleb Deschanel’s cinematography captures the raw beauty of the stallion in various environments, often using natural light to set the tone. Carmine Coppola’s score builds in complexity and emotion as a boy and horse learn they need each other to survive, whether trapped on an island or in society. Director Carroll Ballard takes us from majestic shots to heart-pounding sequences. The script is lean but powerful, allowing the music and visuals to drive the story at times. Don’t confuse The Black Stallion with Black Beauty, a much bumpier, less thrilling cinematic experience. You can watch The Black Stallion ad-free right now on Hoopla — or buy the Criterion Collection 4K Blu-Ray, now on sale at Walmart!
Kickin’ It Old School
The NeverEnding Story (1984) (5+)
For us parents, The NeverEnding Story is a straight shot of nostalgia — no chaser. For children, it’s a pulp fairy tale that’ll stalk them through mucky forests and drown them in sorrow. And like any good fable, it’ll send them soaring with a sense of wonder. The special effects in this film are dated, but that’s what makes them fun. The animatronics and puppetry are timeless. They bring the film’s fantastical creatures and characters to life. The NeverEnding Story is corny but charming; childish but with a dark edge. Most importantly, the power of the imagination is on full display here — a hallmark of the era where special effects were performance art, captured in motion, not in post-production. I have no problem with live-action films that rely heavily on CGI, but I still appreciate the on-set craftsmanship we see with Falkor, Morla, Gmork, and Pyornkrachzark the Rock-Biter. Despite my enthusiasm for these creatures, please don’t ask me to list them from memory. The NeverEnding Story is available to rent on services like Fandango and Amazon Prime.
Classic for a Reason
My Neighbor Totoro (1988) (5+)
The fear you feel when a family member is sick doesn’t immediately boil over. It simmers in the background. Even when they recover, you still experience trauma related to life changes during treatment and not knowing what will happen in the end. On the exterior, My Neighbor Totoro is about an enormous and cuddly cat-bear-like creature who, with the help of his magic cat bus, helps two girls explore the magic of their new home in the country. On the inside, it’s about how two imaginative girls process their new lives as they await their mother’s recovery from illness. It’s sweet and whimsical and innocent — the perfect film to experience together with kids who will someday have to face their own simmering fear about a sick loved one. My Neighbor Totoro is a beautiful, smile-inducing Studio Ghibli classic — one of the best family films ever made — and it’s streaming right now on HBO Max.
For Your Eyes Only
What to watch after THEY go to bed.
Weapons (2025)
Head bashing. Body smashing. A person shredded from the inside out. Weapons is not a children’s movie. Not only because of the violence that’s peppered in – and boy oh boy is it peppered in. It’s not a children’s film because it’s about children. How certain groups leverage their innocence for their own gains. How our society ignores their needs until they disappear. How they can be taken from us and turned into weapons because of one devilish influencer who wields their magic only for their own gain.
You start to see what the title means? I thought so too. But the film keeps going. And then you start to see how many parts of our lives become weaponized — from technology to mass thinking to arcane arts. Yep. Don’t expect normal here. Things get a little weird. But the images, actions, and story arcs mean something. The film comes at you (hard) from the perspectives of several characters, with each one unraveling a little more about a mass child vanishing and the mysterious evil behind it. Weapons is still in theaters. Don’t wait for streaming. See this funny, scary, insightful film free of distractions — with a crowd. It’s quite something when the film weaponizes your perspective so much that you and the other filmgoers break out in cheers during the film’s most violent scene.
The Man Behind the Mask
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I am a former television news journalist who now writes about movies, parenting, and tech online (and occasionally on paper). My number one job, though, is making sure my girls grow up with steady heads on their shoulders. I think our shared movie nights have a positive impact on their self-esteem and develop an awareness of the world around them. I relish every night — except for maybe Baby Geniuses. I got through that one with my good friend George Dickel.
Brendan Knapp