Film Review: Coraline – 8.5/10

‘She wants something to love, I think. Something that isn’t her…’

I have lamented before on how safe and sanitised children’s films have become. When I think back to the drunken elephants in Dumbo, kids being turned into donkeys in Pinocchio and whatever fresh hell Return to Oz demonstrated, I feel sorry for the kids of today who have to sit through dull and repetitive movies with no real peril or danger. In other news, old man shouts at clouds. Well, I’m happy to say that having finally got around to watching Coraline, I can report that it is a glorious throwback to the days of utterly traumatising kid’s movies…

Coraline Jones (Dakota Fanning) lives a dull and grey existence with her disinterested parents Mel (Teri Hatcher) and Charlie (John Hodgman). After discovering a hidden doorway in her house, Coraline discovers another world, a different world, a world in which her parents are loving and attentive and… have buttons where their eyes should be? No matter. They serve excellent food. Coraline quickly realises that all is not as it seems.

Based on the graphic novel by Neil Gaiman and brought to the screen by The Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick, Coraline is the kind of film that Tim Burton thinks he is making when he is cranking out his nonsense. Coraline is funny, eccentric and genuinely creepy – the perfect film for Halloween. I was surprised at how much I loved it and how invested I was in the story from beginning to end. Why did nobody tell me to watch this film when it came out 14 years ago? That’s on you, dear reader, that’s on you.

Pithy comments aside, anyone with misgivings about Coraline needs to grow up, quite frankly. This is a perfect kid’s film. The perfect Halloween film. An instant classic.