Yes, 5 out of 10. The fear comes from a child's imaginary friend and a family the other parents have started to avoid.
🐱THE SCARE SIGNAL
SCARE SCORE
5 /10
🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱
DREAD LEVEL
Medium
Expect it to last about a night, mostly because the story is so sad.
DOG
Dog: fine
fine, no dog dies.
Ruling: It suits viewers who like their horror bleak, and it is a rough pick for parents of young children.
Z runs 83 minutes and starts with a boy whose imaginary friend has a one-letter name. His parents treat it as a phase, which is a reasonable thing to do until the school calls.
The premise, briefly
When her eight-year-old son's imaginary friend starts getting him in trouble, a mother discovers that she had the same friend as a child, and that it has not forgotten her.
How much do you want to know?
🐱
The verdict above is spoiler-free. Everything below, including the ending, stays hidden until you pick a depth.
🐱CUT TO THE CHASE
How it ends
Z kills Kevin, burns the house down and takes Josh. Beth marries Z as it wanted, then tries to end it by hanging herself, and the police stop her in time. Josh is saved, and Beth survives heavily paralyzed.
The scene you're dreading
Near the end, Z lures Josh onto train tracks with a train approaching, and later Beth hangs herself to try to end Z. Both of them are saved, so you can brace for each scene knowing that.
The dog
No dog dies in Z.
It is a bleak family story with one persistent monster, and the sadness stays the same once you know the plot.
THE SHORT VERSION IS HIDDEN
How it ends, the scene you're dreading, what happens to the dog, and the bottom line. About twenty seconds to read.
What actually happens
A phase that gets a suspension
Kevin and Beth Parsons have a son, Josh, who invents an imaginary friend named Z. His parents treat it as a harmless phase, at least until Josh starts acting out at school and gets suspended. The family visits an indoor amusement park, where Beth sees something monstrous go after Josh inside a slide. By the time she reaches him he seems to be fine. The suspension leaves the Parsons on the outs with the other parents, who have started to see Josh as the problem.
Things get worse at a playdate, where Josh throws a classmate, Daniel, down the stairs and injures him badly. While sorting through old items at home, Beth plays a tape from her own childhood and finds out that she had an imaginary friend named Z too. She starts Josh on medication without telling Kevin, who is unhappy when he finds out. That night a toy keyboard tells Beth to imagine Z, and when she does, Z appears and she learns that it is real. She then visits Josh's psychiatrist, Dr. Seager, who turns out to have treated Beth once as well. He thinks Z is using Josh to reach her, because young Beth promised to marry Z and start a family with it.
Z collects on a promise from childhood
This is the part people dread, so here it is in order, near the end. Z kills Kevin at home, sets the house on fire and takes Josh. Beth pleads with it to let him go, and it does, so she takes him to her sister. She then goes back to her childhood home, summons Z and marries it, as she once promised. Z terrorizes her through the marriage and then leaves to find Josh, luring him onto train tracks as a train approaches. Dr. Seager phones the police about Beth and tells her that she made Z, so she can unmake it. Beth hangs herself and is close to dying when the police break in. Josh is saved.
The ending, explained
After Dr. Seager's call, the police break in and stop Beth from dying. Josh survives the train tracks and goes back to live with Jenna and with Beth, who is now heavily paralyzed. Kevin does not survive, and the house burned down earlier in the story. The story never says what happens to Z after Beth's attempt.
The post-credits ruling
Nobody has confirmed whether there is a scene after the credits in Z.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Z scary?
Z is a 5 out of 10, and the dread lasts about a night. Most of the fear comes from a child's imaginary friend and a family the other parents have started to avoid, and the ending is bleak.
How does Z end?
Dr. Seager tells Beth that she can end Z because she created it, and she hangs herself to try. The police stop her in time. Josh is saved and goes to live with Jenna and Beth, who is now heavily paralyzed.
Does the dog die in Z?
No, no dog dies in Z.
Is there a post-credits scene in Z?
Nobody has confirmed whether there is a scene after the credits in Z.
Who is Z in Z?
Z is an imaginary friend that Beth had as a child, and it turns out to be real. According to Dr. Seager, it has come back through her son Josh because young Beth promised to marry it and start a family.
BLURRED FOR YOUR PROTECTION
The whole plot of Z is hidden, ending included. It stays that way until you ask.
You don't need to spend 83 minutes with Z to know how it ends. Install Scaredy Cat and it will blur horror before you see it.
