It's been nice to see stop-motion movies coming back in 2022, though whether it's a blip or another resurgence is for time to tell. It makes sense that Henry Selick, responsible for the first huge stop-motion film and then the wave of them started by Laika, is back to pop stop-motion back into the roster...and given that Coraline was a movie that changed my life and remains my favorite, I needed to see this movie the second I heard it was a thing.
Kat Elliot is a girl who survived a car accident that killed her parents, and ended up with resentment and emotional issues that landed her in juvie. She's finally been given a chance at a Catholic school back in her hometown, but demons haunt her and want to visit the surface to make their dreams of designing a theme park come true.
This is a weird world and it's unconventionally made and probably even messy, but I still really enjoyed being there. The demon afterlife, which is a realm located on the body of a huge demon, is interesting, and the worldbuilding about demon powers feels pretty digestible even when it's not that explained or developed. I feel like this film could have been turned into a whole series due to the mythos and academy setting probably being good for an episodic structure, but I like what we have all the same. The film isn't a classic hero's journey and the villains aren't really threatening, but the strange setting and stylization was fun. We also get some nice diversity, including a trans boy (whose acceptance in a Catholic school feels a tad implausible but hey) and the film's antagonists are rich people funding the prison industrial complex, which has some resonance with Kat's unfortunate history (the villains want to funnel troubled youth into their prisons for profit), and is a good social commentary especially for a family(?) film. The tone is pretty scary and crude and dark, leaving it more firmly as an "older-kid's" film in a fun way.
I enjoyed the animation a lot, and it blends 2D and stop-motion in fun ways. I didn't like how the face plate seams weren't erased in post, and the 2D-esque puppets in the demon-world scenes didn't quite hit the mark for me, but it's Selick's vision, so it's spooky, spectacular, and very visually iconic.
This isn't a tight script or emotional journey, but it's a compelling one and definitely captured my interest. I had fun with the film and its curious nature and its good points are definitely worth the watch.
A strange world I really liked being in.
It's been nice to see stop-motion movies coming back in 2022, though whether it's a blip or another resurgence is for time to tell. It makes sense that Henry Selick, responsible for the first huge stop-motion film and then the wave of them started by Laika, is back to pop stop-motion back into the roster...and given that Coraline was a movie that changed my life and remains my favorite, I needed to see this movie the second I heard it was a thing.
Kat Elliot is a girl who survived a car accident that killed her parents, and ended up with resentment and emotional issues that landed her in juvie. She's finally been given a chance at a Catholic school back in her hometown, but demons haunt her and want to visit the surface to make their dreams of designing a theme park come true.
This is a weird world and it's unconventionally made and probably even messy, but I still really enjoyed being there. The demon afterlife, which is a realm located on the body of a huge demon, is interesting, and the worldbuilding about demon powers feels pretty digestible even when it's not that explained or developed. I feel like this film could have been turned into a whole series due to the mythos and academy setting probably being good for an episodic structure, but I like what we have all the same. The film isn't a classic hero's journey and the villains aren't really threatening, but the strange setting and stylization was fun. We also get some nice diversity, including a trans boy (whose acceptance in a Catholic school feels a tad implausible but hey) and the film's antagonists are rich people funding the prison industrial complex, which has some resonance with Kat's unfortunate history (the villains want to funnel troubled youth into their prisons for profit), and is a good social commentary especially for a family(?) film. The tone is pretty scary and crude and dark, leaving it more firmly as an "older-kid's" film in a fun way.
I enjoyed the animation a lot, and it blends 2D and stop-motion in fun ways. I didn't like how the face plate seams weren't erased in post, and the 2D-esque puppets in the demon-world scenes didn't quite hit the mark for me, but it's Selick's vision, so it's spooky, spectacular, and very visually iconic.
This isn't a tight script or emotional journey, but it's a compelling one and definitely captured my interest. I had fun with the film and its curious nature and its good points are definitely worth the watch.