Movie- Coraline

They call Coraline (2008) a movie for kids, but despite it being animated, and with a main character a kid, it is not a movie for kids.

It is scary, anti-establishment and sexual. And not that there is anything wrong with any or all of those things...it just is not a cute kid movie---and thank god for that. Because this is a really well done feature...an animated film not done all on computer, but mostly stop action animation. And the result, just visually, is fantastic.

Add to that the in-depth story of Coraline, a young girl who is not particularly cute or sweet. She is stubborn and resentful and petulant, among her other intriguing qualities. She is also in a new home that is more than creepy, and left alone a lot by too busy parents, who seem to think that she can raise herself.

But Coraline finds a portal to a different world...much like her own, but with a mother and father who pay attention to her, and spoil her a little...OK, a lot. But that world that seems so perfect...has a hidden dark side...VERY dark.

Coraline has very sexual parts too...with the neighbors, who in their younger days were at least burlesque girls, at most prostitutes. The scariness as the dark side of the other world and the themes of not obeying parents and authority all mark this as an excellent film, with complexity and layers. But it is not a kid's movie.

Coraline should be an animation classic, and I am surprised it was not nominated for an Oscar.