While 2024 hasn’t kicked off the way 2023 did in terms of massive horror releases in the first quarter, it looks as though Robert Morgan’s debut film, Stopmotion, is the first great horror film of the year. Known mostly for his short films and his memorable stop-motion-animated segment of The ABC’s of Death 2, Morgan and IFC films combined their powers to create an unsettling blend of live-action and stop-motion horror. Stopmotion was written by Morgan and Robin King, and stars Aisling Franciosi from Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale, Stella Gonet (Spencer), Tom York (Poldark), and Caoilinn Springall (The Midnight Sky).
Stopmotion follows Ella Blake (Franciosi), a young stop-motion artist, who, alongside her abusive and obsessive mother Suzanne, works day and night to finish her mother’s movie before she’s taken by a sickness. Juggling her past familial trauma and current demons, Ella stops the project when her mother falls too ill to work on it, and starts work on her own stop-motion project, an idea given to her by a child who lives nearby. As Ella’s new story and film start to unravel, so does her sanity as she puts together a truly gruesome display of art.
The film is already starting to rack up recognition in early awards shows, being nominated for Best Picture at the Sitges Film Festival and winning Best Director (Robert Morgan) at Fantastic Fest.
A Magnifying Glass on Familial Trauma
4/5
Release Date February 23, 2024
Director Robert Morgan
Cast Aisling Franciosi , Stella Gonet , Tom York , Caoilinn Springall , James Swanton
Runtime 1hr 33min
Pros
- Intriguing focus on trauma
- Brilliantly gruesome animation
- Smooth blend of stop-motion and live action
Cons
- The subject of mother-daughter trauma has been done in similar ways before
One of the most interesting things about Stopmotion’s story is its focus on familial trauma and how it affects you throughout the different stages of your life. It’s clear even within the opening minutes that Ella’s life and talents are controlled by her mother. She doesn’t get sleep or have a social life. Her duties are to finish the movie and be as close to perfect as possible, every step of the way. Suzanne treats Ella as a failing version of herself, rather than a daughter, so when Ella finally gets the chance to express herself through her own art, it’s not a surprise that the product continues to get more horrifying as the process continues.
While the psychological horror aspect of Stopmotion isn’t wholly unique from other mother-daughter trauma horror films, the way in which it’s presented on screen is. Suzanne’s presence is barely in the film, but the psychological effects she’s had on her daughter are extremely prevalent. Ella’s descent as the movie progresses isn’t just visible from a movie standpoint, but also in the darkness of her stop-motion animation, as she transitions from using putty and wax, to raw meat and dead animals for her posable characters.
Gruesome Gore and the Puppets of Nightmares
As if stop-motion animation wasn’t already unsettling and macabre enough, Stopmotion takes its hideous puppets to the next level. In the film, Ella’s puppets are formed with everything from mortician’s wax, to human skin (we won’t spoil whose!). The puppets are slimy, goopy, deformed creatures, straight out of your nightmares. Ella’s “Ash Man” is especially terrifying, both in his intentions and in the way he looks.
The practical effects don’t just end with the stop-motion animation, though. There are quite a few gory moments and excellent practical effects in the film, including full-sized creatures and gruesome kill scenes. While excessive blood is used sparingly in the film, several other moments (and sounds) of gore make this a film that the squeamish may want to avoid.
Related Best Stop-Motion Animated Movies, Ranked Stop-motion animation is a carefully crafted art form. From Aardman to Nightmare Before Christmas, these are the best movies in the medium.
A Dying Art Resurfaces
IFC Films
For many years, it seemed like the art of stop-motion animation was a dying breed. While massive films like Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio and Kubo and the Two Strings have kept the art front and center, smaller productions like The ABC’s of Death, Phil Tippett’s Mad God, Wendell & Wild, and most recently, Stopmotion have kept the art alive and well in the horror genre.
Related 9 Underrated Stop Motion Animated Movies Worth Checking Out What’s not to love about cooky movies and bizarre characters? Stop-motion animation takes the obscure to a whole new level.
The art form has given life to some of the most memorable films in cinematic history, including The Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, and Coraline, but due to the intense amount of work, effort, focus, and money needed for its rare animators, stop-motion films just hadn’t been releasing at the rate they were during the Ray Harryhausen days. Even with the grotesque style applied to Stopmotion’s animation, it’s beautiful to see the magic of the art form on screen, not only from an audience point of view, but also from an educational place, as the film goes into the depths of stop-motion animation creation.
While Stopmotion isn’t breaking any ground in terms of its storytelling, its art and smooth, atmospheric transitions from animation to live-action, along with fantastic acting from a relatively unknown cast, will certainly make it an early critical horror darling of 2024.
Stopmotion was released in select theaters on Feb. 23, 2024, and will be available to stream on Shudder on May 31, 2024.
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