Anomaly Film Festival Coverage
Stopmotion review.
The cost of creativity is high in Stopmotion…a highly creative movie that one hopes didn’t take the same toll on its own filmmakers.
Festival movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Stopmotion
Directed by Robert Morgan
Written by Robin King and Robert Morgan
Starring Aisling Franciosi, Stella Gonet, Tom York, Caoillinn Springall, James Swanton, Joshua J Parker and Jaz Hutchins
Stopmotion Review
The final movie we’ll be covering from this year’s Anomaly Film Festival will arrive on Shudder sometime in 2024. When it is…you should make a point to check it out. Stopmotion is a riveting examination of the cost of creativity and how far someone will go to make something they can call their own. It uses stop-motion animation to make its nightmare sequences stand out. An original story soaked in darkness from the first frame to the last.
Ella (Aisling Franciosi) is a gifted stop-motion animator. She spends her days working for her mother, a famous stop-motion director. Acting as the hands she can no longer use…Ella is afraid to speak up about her ideas and accepts the demanding abuse of a perfectionist. When her mother falls gravely ill…Ella sets out to finish the movie. The draw of making her own movie begins to drive her into darker, more dangerous territory.
Ella’s passion for a project that seems to be trying to kill her is the driving force of Stopmotion. The script does a great job making us understand why she is unable to turn back no matter how dark things become. She craves an original creation. Something that comes from inside her. In its darkest moments…literally. The movie does a great job explaining Ella’s mindset…and it does it quickly. Her obsession sees her getting her hands dirty before too long…and that’s when the nightmares begin.
Her work begins to haunt her. It does so through glorious stop-motion animation. The villain of her story is coming for her…the story she’s creating leading her closer to her own end. Anyone who has created something artistic will understand exactly where Stopmotion is coming from. Chasing pain for something beautiful. Risking everything to put your name on something. It’s not a subtle metaphor. It doesn’t need to be. The horror is so vivid and real it can only come from experience.
Franciosi turns in a standout performance as the terrified and increasingly unhinged Ella. Relationships with her boyfriend and friends will be tested in the name of her art. Everyone has her best interests at heart…but how can they understand what this means to her? Even as the walls close in and Ella’s own project terrifies her…she can’t stay away. Some things are worth creating no matter what.
Stopmotion never presents itself as anything but a tragedy. There is no cure for what ails Ella…and that’s before her work seemingly comes to life. The artist’s life can be a maddening one…Stopmotion takes that notion to the extreme. This is a bleak movie that also happens to be a beautiful one. Ella’s mental and physical decline as she toils away goes to some extreme places. Franciosi delivers such a realistic performance it can terrify on its own. And in more ways than one.
The catalyst for Ella’s story comes in the form of a nosy little girl in the building. This is no ordinary neighbor…as you’ll surely figure out before Stopmotion gets around to telling you. It’s not really hiding the reality of the situation from you…it’s hiding it from Ella. She’s either incapable of seeing what’s happening around her or unwilling to. It makes for a compelling story either way.
Every aspect of Ella’s life is affected by her work. Negatively, it should go without saying. That’s the cost of her passion. But it extends far beyond that. Her health, sanity, and safety are on the line as well. And that’s before her stop-motion creation begins to hunt her down. Stopmotion comes from such a knowing place that one wonders if a documentary about the making of it would be equally compelling…or scary. If co-writer/director Robert Morgan’s journey was anything like Ella’s. Well…not to the same lengths, one assumes.
I don’t know when Stopmotion will be available…but it will come to Shudder at some point in 2024. Hopefully it will see a theatrical release beforehand. This is an incredibly original work that demands your attention. A consistently surprising story, a fearless performance, a brutal examination of the relationship between an artist and their work. It provides a second examination…the one between art and audience. Be sure to be a part of that audience whenever it sees release.
Scare Value
Stopmotion will arrive on Shudder sometime in 2024. It’s one to look out for when it does. Its use of stop motion animation creates a unique nightmare. A dark examination of artistic obsession with a tremendous performance at its core. If this is any indication…next year is going to be a good one for Shudder.
4/5
Stopmotion Trailer
For the rest of our Anomaly Film Festival coverage…check out River, Molli and Max in the Future, The Sacrifice Game, Loop Track, Tiger Stripes and Sleep.
