Plot summary

A 12 year old girl named Bea moves in with her grandmother Margaret while her father waits for heart surgery at the same hospital her mother had died at. One night, Bea buys a charger for her mother's camcorder and discovers a bizarre creature following it.The following day, Bea spots the creature again, but this time it is with a man. Bea follows them into a house and the man called Cal collects a giant, furry purple creature named Blue. Soon after, a butterfly type creature called Blossom reveals herself and Bea immediately passes out. She wakes up and Cal reveals that he has been working with IFs (Imaginary Friends) to give them to other children. Bea, originally skeptical decides to help Cal.The next day, Cal and Bea go to the 'memory lane retirement home', where IFs hang out underneath Coney Island. Cal introduces Bea to an elderly teddy bear named Lewis and he encourages Bea to use her imagination, much to Cals annoyance.Bea attempts to match one of the IFs to a young boy who she met called Benjamin. However, he is unable to see them, which just makes Bea even more unmotivated. Cal gives Bea the idea that IFs may not need new owners, but rather to be reunited with their old kids.Bea talks to Margaret and she shows her an old picture of her when she was younger and Bea recognizes Blossom in the background. Bea realizes that Blossom was her grandmothers IF and she decides to play one of Margaret's old records and encourages her to dance and she remembers Blossom. Bea regains hope.Following clues, Bea, Cal and Blue discover Blues original owner, a man called Jeremy, who is now all grown up and trying to launch his own business. After an initial failure, Bea and Cal successfully remind Jeremy of Blue and the duo reconcile. Later that night, Bea returns home and receives bad news from Margaret that her father's operation went wrong and Bea rushes upstairs and becomes comforted by Cal. Cal then tells Bea to go to the hospital and tell him a story, so Bea heads to her father and he keeps trying to have fun with her, while she tries to be grown up and that she still needs him, which ultimately awakens him. Bea goes to tell her mother the good news, but she realizes all the IFs have gone.Bea goes up to thank Cal, but no one answers. The local landlady reveals that the door she was trying to open, leads to an old storage compartment room. Beas father is released from hospital and they return home. Whilst packing up the car, Bea sees a picture of a clown named Calvin and she realizes that Cal is her own IF, which she had forgotten after the death of her mother. Bea closes her eyes and remembers all of the IFs and ultimately reunites with Cal. Margaret asks Blossom if they should go inside, revealing that she can see her.Later, Cal reunites the IFs with all of their original kids, now all grown up and Benjamin meets his IF, a dragon with glasses. Bea and her father return home and her father trips over his own IF, an invisible friend.