Coraline Movie Review: Terrifying Yet Beautiful
Terrifying, yet beautiful. Henry Selick’s 2009 movie, Coraline, gave me the creeps and warmed my heart. I was in the third grade when Coraline was released in theaters, and all of my friends were talking about it. I did not have the chance to see it then, so you have no idea how thrilled I was when I found out that Netflix added it to their library. I watched it immediately. I admired the 11 year old Coraline who moved from Michigan to Oregon with her family. Her parents, too busy with their jobs as writers to spend much time with Coraline, left it up to her find entertainment in her new environment. As she explores her new house, she discovers a secret door which leads her to an “other life” with “other parents.”
Coraline focuses on themes of identity, fear, bravery, and the lot, but for me the most important idea in the film is family. Throughout, Coraline’s parents are busy finishing their gardening book and constantly decline Coraline’s requests of going outside to actually garden. They do not satisfy Coraline’s need for play and adventure. However, when Coraline enters the other world through the secret door, she finds all she wished for. And more. Her other parents do everything to fulfill her, such as cook her favorite meals and actually spend time with her outside. It is not until her other parents pressure her to sew buttons over her eyes that Coraline realizes that even though her real parents have flaws, she still loves them. In the end she discovers she’d never trade them, not even for the perfect parents.
Selick makes sure to terrify the audience by making the other world dark, spooky and supernatural. All the characters in the “other” world have button eyes, like dolls who are being controlled by a child. Dolls are right up there at the top of my scary list, next to clowns and the dark. So the button eyes gave me chills. Other sinister characters lurk about to provide a dark other worldly aspect, and there are plenty of creepy moments.
I definitely recommend this movie if you love Tim Burton’s movies because both him and Selick share similar taste in animations and themes. If, like me, you deprived the opportunity to see this movie when it released, and you have a Netflix account, then stop what you are doing right now, and go watch Coraline!