Stopmotion – Movie Review (3/5)

STOPMOTION is IFC’s new cross-genre film mixing horror and animation. In fact, this movie is clearly a love letter to both genres. Aisling Franciosi stars and is brilliant as always. Read our full Stopmotion movie review here!

STOPMOTION is a new horror and animation genre-hybrid from IFC. This might sound a bit strange, but it really isn’t when you watch it. Besides, most horror fans will already be familiar with some aspects of this hybrid. In some ways, this is exactly what horror master Guillermo del Toro did with his Pinocchio.

While much of it is CGI or amazing costume work, many puppet horror movies have previously been made using stop-motion or other animation styles. The fact that this movie pays tribute to stop-motion as well as horror movies is obvious. The runtime of 1 hour 33 minutes also ensures it doesn’t get too crazy.

Continue reading our Stopmotion movie review below. Find it on VOD from March 15, 2024 (and on Shudder from May 31).

How far will you go for art?

In Stopmotion, Ella Blake (Aisling Franciosi) is a stop-motion animator, who is also heavily controlled and restricted by her mother. In Ella’s world, her mom is the true artist, and her mother dearest makes this clear to her as well.

However, with her mother’s hands broken by arthritis, Ella is now in charge of the physical aspect of creating stop-motion. Mother is still the brains and director… and tormentor of Ella!

As bad as life and work with her mom is, Ella struggles even more to control her demons after the loss of her overbearing mother. Being alone and free, Ella sets out to create her own thing.

It turns out that Ella Blake’s style is a macabre new puppet film. As Ella’s sanity is challenged by her characters, they seem to take on a life of their own. Also, they are increasingly made from material of a very organic kind. It looks both very creepy and perfect for a horror animation movie!

Aisling Franciosi is Ella Blake

Yet again, we see Aisling Franciosi delivering a brilliant portrayal of a young woman. When Stopmotion begins, you feel for her. I know I certainly did. She’s moving a puppet mere millimeters while her mother is screaming in her ear.

Her hands tense up and she just has to keep her cool when she wants to scream and run away. And yet she doesn’t. It’s a constant conundrum for Ella and Aisling Franciosi plays it perfectly.

As noted by the director, Stopmotion is about “how far artists will go for their art” and how their art “defines their lives” which can be a very destructive force. This was absolutely my takeaway from watching this movie. Ella Blake lives for her art but it’s also killing her.

Not unlike the ballet dancer in Black Swan.

I love this premise and cannot imagine anyone other than Aisling Franciosi playing this role. From seeing her in The Fall series to starring in The Nightingale, the Black Narcissus miniseries, or even her key role in The Last Voyage of the Demeter, she always delivers. This is no exception!

Watch Stopmotion on VOD now and Shudder later

Robert Morgan is the director and co-writer of Stopmotion alongside Robin King. As far as I can tell, this is the feature film debut of Robert Morgan, who has a lot of short films under his belt. Including a segment in ABCs of Death 2.

For that particular horror anthology, Robert Morgan made the D segment. It was titled “D is for Deloused” and you can find it on YouTube and watch it for free here. I mention this as it shows the exact style of stop-motion used by our main protagonist in Stopmotion.

Even though Stopmotion is a rather short feature film at just 93 minutes, I still think it could’ve been a tad tighter. Also, I know the ending won’t be for everyone as it’s as abrupt as it is completely in line with the rest of the movie. The horror-animation hybrid is coming to VOD, but you can find it on Shudder soon.

Stopmotion was released in theaters on February 23, 2024, and now it will be out on VOD from March 15, 2024, and on Shudder on May 31.

Details

Director: Robert Morgan
Writers: Robert Morgan, Robin King
Cast: Aisling Franciosi, Stella Gonet, Tom York, Caoilinn Springall, Therica Wilson-Read, James Swanton