Kafkaesque fun for kids!

*** Coraline (2009)

Not really sure who the targeted audience was for this movie. Kiddie goths?

Don't get me wrong - I enjoyed the film. It's a visual feast and will probably be go down as one of the hallmarks in stop motion animation. Those who have seen The Nightmare Before Christmas, director Henry Selick's first feature, will probably recognize similar motifs and designs in Coraline. There are some truly fantastic sequences that inspire awe, wonder and horror (i.e. the scene where Coraline's father unveils a garden made in his daughter's image).

Whether this is a film for kids is up for debate. Even though it's rated PG, it's advisable that you don't take anyone under the age of ten (or nine - kids are so savvy these days and it seems like they're reaching that point at a younger age) unless you want them forever agitated by the sight of buttons. The visuals aren't the only unsettling aspect of the film; the story is just as off-putting as the images of deformed human shapes that permeate the screen. Coraline, the titular character, is a cheeky young girl who discovers another world through a hidden door in her house. The Other World is a mirror of her own, except everyone there is perfect (albeit creepingly so) as opposed to the dreary humdrum of characters that exist in her real world.

Sounds familiar? If you're thinking Lewis Carroll, you'd be right - if Lewis Carroll was inspired by Edgar Allan Poe to write Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. In Coraline, deranged smiles are sewn onto faces along with black buttons that feign as eyes, hands are transfigured into arachnid claws (a nod to Edward Scissorhands) and ghost children with no souls or eyes are trapped behind a mirror forever. Again, be advised to watch this film without highly impressionable people if you want to admire vividly nightmarish imagery and avoid screaming/crying/wailing distractions.



Overall, it's a well-made film and definitely recommended for anyone who's a fan of arthouse animation.