Coraline (2009)

Here's the thing about Coraline: I completely understand why it has the following it does. Genuinely. I can see it right there on the screen, every single frame of it. The stop-motion animation is some of the most extraordinary work the format has ever produced, a handcrafted world of such intricate, obsessive detail that you keep catching yourself leaning in just to look at the texture of a wall or the stitching on a piece of clothing. The Other World, in particular, has this lush, dangerous beauty to it, like a dream that knows it's about to turn. Visually, it's almost beyond criticism.

And yet. It didn't quite get me.

I've sat with that reaction for a while, because it feels like a slightly awkward thing to admit about a film that so many people hold close. But there's something about the way Coraline is pitched, tonally, that kept me at a distance rather than pulling me in. It commits hard to being unsettling, and fair play, it absolutely achieves that. But for me, the emotional core never quite caught fire to match the atmosphere. The creepiness is earned. The gut-punch, the part where you really feel for the characters at the centre of it all, that landed a little softer than I was hoping for. The pacing, too, has a slightly languid quality in its earlier stretches that I found harder to give myself over to than I expected.

I should say: my daughter watched this alongside me, and she was completely transfixed. Eyes wide, barely moving, the full works. For her it was exactly what a film like this should be: thrilling, a little scary in the best possible way, and ultimately (in the story's own terms, not mine as a lazy critical crutch) about a girl who is braver and smarter than the world gives her credit for. That's a genuinely brilliant thing for a younger viewer to take from a film, and I'm not going to pretend that didn't mean something to me, watching her watch it. Sometimes the most valuable thing a film can do is work its magic on someone sat right next to you.

It reminded me a little of my experience with The Nightmare Before Christmas, another stop-motion gem I admire enormously on a craft level while acknowledging it connects with some people far more viscerally than it does with me. There's a particular kind of dark, whimsical Gothic aesthetic that those films share, and I respect it deeply even when I'm standing slightly outside of it rather than inside.

What I will say without any reservation is that Coraline is a proper artistic achievement. The thought, the labour, the sheer imagination poured into every inch of it is staggering. Henry Selick directs with real confidence and a genuine feel for creeping dread, and Neil Gaiman's source material gives the whole thing a folkloric weight that stops it from ever feeling like a simple horror-lite romp for kids. This is not a small film dressed up small. It has genuine ambition and it largely delivers on it.

I just admire it more than I love it. There's a difference, and I think it's worth being honest about that distinction rather than letting the reputation of a film do the emotional work that the film itself, for me personally, didn't quite finish. Three and a half stars feels right. A generous three and a half, because the craft really is extraordinary. But my heart stayed in my chest rather than climbing into my throat, and that's on me as much as it's on the film.

If you've not seen it, see it. Especially if you've got kids. Just don't come to me expecting a personal evangelical moment. I'll point you to the screen and let it speak for itself.

Three and a half stars.

Rating: ★★★½  | Year: 2009  | Watched: 2025-07-18

View on Letterboxd →

Where to watch

Watch in the UK
Stream: ITVX Premium
Rent: Apple TV Store · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies · Sky Store
Buy: Apple TV Store · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies · Sky Store
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi

Watch in the US
Stream: Hulu
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US

Affiliate disclosure: Movies With Macca may earn a small commission on purchases or subscriptions started via these links. It costs you nothing extra.

Related on Movies With Macca

More from Henry Selick: The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
More from the 2000s: Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) · Daredevil (2003) · Apocalypto (2006)
More animation: Fantastic Planet (1973) · Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025)
More family: Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Wonder (2017) · Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anastasia (1997)