Reviews
‘Stopmotion’ Review – An Artist’s Descent Through Visceral Horror and Immersive Stop-Motion
Horror often presents a literal interpretation of artists giving themselves over to their art, whether through supernatural suffering or psychological unraveling. Stopmotion, the feature directorial debut by BAFTA-nominated filmmaker/animator Robert Morgan, chooses the latter. While it may adhere to a familiar path of an artist’s unraveling, Morgan finds inventive and creative ways to mine visceral horror through the uncanny, unsettling nature of stop-motion animation and its painstaking process.
Ella Blake (The Nightingale‘s Aisling Franciosi) is a talented stop-motion animator who longs to escape the shadow of her mother, Suzanne (Stella Gonet), a reputable legend in the world of stop-motion animation. With Suzanne’s health deteriorating and her hands no longer functional, Ella’s artistic aspirations are put on the backburner as she’s forced to tend to her ailing but overbearing mom and act as her hands through the meticulous work of stop-motion. It seems everything in the timid Ella’s life works against her artistic dreams beyond an oppressive home life. Yet, when Suzanne’s health takes a sharp turn for the worse, Ella’s chance to create her own vision instead sends her spiraling when reality blurs in increasingly disquieting ways.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Samuel Dole. An IFC Films and Shudder release.
What sets Stopmotion apart from horror films of this ilk and makes it special is its reflection on the art form and filmmaking process. Robert Morgan, best known for stop-motion shorts “Bobby Yeah” and “D is for Deloused” in ABCs of Death 2, captures the demanding nature of stop-motion animation through exquisitely haunting clay creations and miniature sets. With the help of plucky young Little Girl (Caoilinn Springall), Ella’s stop-motion figures, made of fleshy hues, textures, and organic matter, poignantly shift the relationship between an artist and her increasingly ominous art.
Ella’s descent grows more macabre, mirrored by escalating encounters with her puppets in sinister ways. Morgan’s deft blending of mediums is utterly captivating, including the way the filmmaker imbues his stop-motion creations with a tactile quality. It’s not just the animation that stuns while simultaneously inducing revulsion but the unnerving sound design. Open wounds and puppets alike often come with discomforting, squelching sounds and wet noises that ensure an immersive experience.
Aisling Franciosi also transcends the familiar artist’s descent arc with a quiet, compelling performance that crescendos into steadfast self-destruction for her grand masterpiece. While some story beats may play out exactly as expected, Franciosi’s nuanced performance and restrained ferocity bridge the art to the artist. Sometimes, the dramatic stakes are too restrained, occasionally serving as a supporting part of the stop-motion animation.
It’s fitting, though, as Stopmotion feels more of a personal piece from a stop-motion artist examining their own relationship with their art and the painstaking process of bringing it to life. Morgan brings intelligence and resonance to it while never afraid to get grotesque or repulsive. The final act may read familiar on paper, but the inventive approach packs a visceral punch.
When so many filmmakers opt for style over substance, the style is substance here. Morgan surprises with an immersive sensory assault. Art and storytelling collide in breathtaking yet revolting fashion. Morgan’s knockout debut opens up the veins of a turbulent artist, delivering one creepy melding of mediums to an unsettling, powerful degree.
Stopmotion releases in theaters on February 23 before heading to Shudder on May 31, 2024.
Reviews
‘Penny Lane is Dead’ Review: A Bloody Ozploitation Throwback Fueled by Punk Rock Energy [Fantasia 2026]
A cruel birthday prank leads to Ozploitation levels of violence and bloodshed in Penny Lane is Dead, the raucous horror-comedy feature debut by writer-director Mia’Kate Russell. A vicious ’80s throwback with a modern sapphic lens becomes the energetic canvas for Russell to make the leap from makeup artist to director, which means an infectiously unhinged dedication to practical effects. It’s that stellar effects work, along with a winsome punk rock heroine, that carries this bloody horror-comedy far even when its villains descend into grating cartoon territory.
Everything is rosy for popular girl Penny Lane (Bailey Spalding) in the summer of 1986. She’s celebrating her final days of high school with friends Toni (Tahlee Faraday) and Amy (Alexandra Jensen) at a remote family cabin before setting off to the college of her dreams. Penny is also riding the highs of her new secret romantic relationship with Toni; not even the naive and tender-hearted Amy is aware. Her good mood prompts her to also invite her family’s black sheep: cousin Kat (Sophia Wright-Mendelsohn, daughter of actor Ben Mendelsohn).
Though the trio braces themselves for Kat’s bad mood, she instead comes with cupcakes and a smile. It’s all a ruse; Kat gleefully sets about making Toni and Amy uncomfortable as Penny falls unconscious to her spiked treat. When Toni ejects her for the party foul, Kat then turns to criminal boyfriend Angus (Ben O’Toole) to crash the party. It transforms a night of intended revelry into a harrowing fight to survive.
Russell fully embraces B-movie, Ozploitation chaos, putting her characters through the absolute wringer. Punk rock energy and free-flowing drugs for party girl Kat set off simmering tension that roars to a boil with an inciting sexual assault. From there, Russell unleashes a no-holds-barred torrent of violence that delivers no shortage of arterial spray and wince-inducing prosthetic work. It’s not just the practical effects that are cheerworthy here, but Faraday’s resolute performance as Penny’s protector that forces her into fight mode. Penny Lane is Dead is prone to forcing its characters into making dumb decisions for the sake of plot momentum, but it at least imbues Toni with the adaptable street smarts that make her a rootworthy protagonist.
Penny Lane is Dead also excels at making you loathe its detestable villains. Wright-Mendelsohn gives excellent crazy eye; there’s a sadistic, manic edge to Kat that makes her instantly unsettling and unpredictable. She doesn’t bat a (crazy) eye as her much older lover, Angus, and his unsavory henchmen Rodowsky (Fletcher Humphrys) and Merrick (Steve Le Marquand), set about hunting Toni and Amy. But by the final act, Wright-Mendelsohn’s unhinged portrayal of the young psycho stretches thin with nowhere left to go. The one-note villainess descends into cartoon mustache-twirling that an unsatisfying conclusion fails to overcome.
Not helping is the clashing tone; Penny Lane is Dead wants to be a fun romp despite broaching bleak territory. The film’s baddies do their best to channel the ’80s with larger-than-life character choices; O’Toole and Wright-Mendelsohn in particular really latched onto the enjoyment their characters derive from inflicting skin-crawling sexual violence. It’s here where Russell’s examination of genre norms grows confusing, especially as it assigns all responsibility to Kat only for the horrors inflicted upon female bodies. And it really doles out brutal punishment upon Penny, Toni, and Amy.
As a lean, mean horror siege, Penny Lane is Dead holds your attention and effectively pulls you into Toni’s bid to meet dawn with her lives and friendships intact. It’s visceral, propulsive, and a strong debut in terms of style and energy. But Russell’s explorations never venture very deep, and that punk rock energy fizzles out by the film’s end, leaving you split on whether this rape-revenge tale offers enough catharsis at the end of its zany, brutal ride.
Penny Lane is Dead made its world premiere at the 2026 Fantasia International Film Festival and releases on Shudder on August 28.
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