Stopmotion, 2024.
Directed by Robert Morgan.
Starring Aisling Franciosi, Stella Gonet, Tom York, Caoilinn Springall, James Swanton, Jaz Hutchins, and Joshua J. Parker.
SYNOPSIS:
A stop-motion animator struggles to control her demons after the loss of her overbearing mother.
Nothing suffocates an artist like having their creativity controlled. In visionary director Robert Morgan’s Stopmotion (co-writing alongside Robin King), once those stifling shackles are removed by Aisling Franciosi’s Ella’s stern, strict, and artistically controlling mother (Stella Gonet) is hospitalized from a stroke potentially related to the strife the duo is going through personally and professionally, the stop-motion animator not only still finds herself struggling to bring a new vision to life, but also finds herself turning to someone else for inspiration.
There is also something instantly ominous and suspicious about the young, seemingly parentless girl who lives inside the same apartment complex where Ella rents a room to better focus on her personal project. As if the stop-motion puppets weren’t creepy enough (ranging from a cyclops to mortician wax girls), Caoilinn Springall’s nameless character has Ella integrating steak meat and dead foxes into the puppet armatures.
Hesitant at first, Ella budges and is willing to go to sinister places, listening to this young girl since the artist isn’t sure where the story goes from here. It’s not even her story concept, but rather the young girl’s, as if Ella doesn’t have a creative bone in her body despite the skill to maneuver these puppets and animate stop-motion scenes, a pleasure that turned into a form of torment when her mother’s range of motion in her hands went away. Nevertheless, Ella becomes increasingly ready to sell her soul itself to create something artistic worth a damn.
The young girl suggests the story be about a frightened child visited three nights by a supernatural entity dubbed the Ashman. This tale seemingly strikes a personal, traumatic chord with Ella, considering she develops a compulsive obsession to do whatever is necessary to learn what happens next and anything to bring it to life through stop-motion animation. The more fixated she becomes on this creative project, the more she pushes away her boyfriend, Tom (Tom York), and others in her sphere will begin to express concern for her mental stability.
This horror feature doesn’t just mix live-action and stop-motion but also becomes a transfixing vessel for demonstrating how much meticulous care and twisted imagination go into this animation art form. Aside from making-of bonuses on special features DVDs, there aren’t many stories out there that also function as windows into the immense dedication and time that goes into stop-motion creation. Once the film becomes a psychological breakdown, weaving the two mediums together is just a terrifying bonus. It also helps that there is some truly grotesque imagery on display, not necessarily exclusive to the stop-motion sequences but the designs of these characters themselves and the young girl’s nonchalant demeanor when insisting that an armature be created from a dead fox.
Despite a rattled, hypnotic performance from the outstanding, underappreciated Aisling Franciosi, the trajectory of Stopmotion is fairly derivative and familiar, perhaps taken a bit over-the-top in the violent climax. The film is at its strongest when it plays into the idea that this stop-motion animated film within a film is deeply connected to Ella, in turn allowing her to gradually elevate and escalate that desperation to create a special piece of art processing her suppressed trauma.
There is an onslaught of vague visuals and intriguing imagery in the third act that those who are truly taken aback by this nightmarish endeavor will relish in further unpacking on multiple re-watches. Still, even on a first-time bewildered and confused watch, it is an unsettling descent into madness. The plot and character arcs may feel ordinary for the genre, but the stop-motion dynamic and distinctly creepy imagery ensures Stopmotion still gets under the skin and stays there after the credits roll. It’s one hellish way for art to imitate life or vice versa.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
