Cloak & Dagger: Remember When Kids Movies Were Actually Kinda Dark?

Okay, so I caught "Cloak & Dagger" on late-night cable the other day, and man, talk about a blast from the past! This flick seriously messed me up when I was a kid. Henry Thomas (yeah, Elliot from E.T., all grown up-ish for 1984) plays Davey, a kid who's way too into his video games and spy fantasies. But then bam, he gets caught up in some real-life espionage stuff involving a video game cartridge. The whole imaginary friend thing, Jack Flack (played by Dabney Coleman) being a literal spy... it's got that 80s Spielberg vibe going on, even though Spielberg wasn't involved. But it's darker, y'know? Like, Davey's basically dealing with real danger and his loneliness at the same time. That scene where he's trapped on top of the Alamo, talking to his imaginary dad, is genuinely creepy and sad. It sticks with you. I think what really hits different now is the reality of it all. We didn't have the internet, phone tracking, or the sheer level of paranoia that exists today. This was back when you actually could get lost in your imagination, and it makes the stakes of the film that much more impactful. Maybe it's not Citizen Kane, but for a kid's movie, "Cloak & Dagger" had some serious staying power. Anyone else remember being low-key terrified by this movie, but also secretly wanting to be Davey?