STOPMOTION (2024)
Film tells the story of young Ella (Aisling Franciosi) who’s overbearing mother, Suzanne (Stella Gonet) is a stop-motion animator who has lost the use of her hands due to age. She is now using Ella to complete her latest film whether the young girl likes it or not. When Suzanne is hospitalized, Ella decides to make her own project egged on by a strange little girl (Caoilinn Springall) in her building. As the project progresses, it and Ella’s reality start to intertwine and with disturbing and sometimes tragic and bloody results.
Ella’s project seems to be merging with her reality. Is she going crazy?
British horror is effectively directed by Robert Morgan from his script with Robin King and is an intriguing and original film. It is also an unsettling and sometimes gruesome flick as it portrays Ella’s descent into madness when her project and her real life start to collide. There is some very unsettling imagery, some fantastic and disturbing SPFX and a pervading atmosphere of dread that runs throughout. Morgan also delivers some effective scenes of violence, has a good visual eye and the performances from his cast are top notch, especially from lead Aisling Franciosi, who does a great job portraying a sweet young girl slowly descending into madness. It’s a slow burn that isn’t perfect nor does it spoon-feed you all the answers. Stopmotion may not be everyone’s cup of tea but given a chance it’s a disturbing and gruesome film with some very unnerving, animated stop-motion sequences. Flick is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
-MonsterZero NJ
Photo: IFC Films