- Director: Robert Morgan
- Writer: Robin King, Robert Morgan
- Stars: Aisling Franciosi, Stella Gonet, Tom York, Caoilinn Springall
REVIEW
Obsession comes in many forms and from many origins. Ella (Franciosi) is helping her overbearing and arthritis ridden mother (Gonet) finish a stop motion film. Painstaking in any normal circumstances, but under the thumb of her mother, Ella finds it punishing, with no freedoms, no individuality or agency. When her mother suffers a massive stroke, it seems like Ella will be free to do as she pleases. However, Ella now feels a responsibility to finish her mother’s film. Moving into an empty apartment space, Ella tries to finish the film but finds herself bereft of any creative impulses. A strange young girl befriends Ella and convinces her to ditch her mother’s film and go with a new idea. The film is about the Ashman, a creature that visits upon a young woman living deep in the woods. As Ella tries to make the film, her obsession starts to affect her reality, and her worlds bleed into each other.
Morgan and cinematographer Léo Hinstin create a claustrophobic world. The human cast feels as small as the stop motion characters, that they are all being manipulated into these positions. The obsession of Ella is heightened through the captured images combined with the sound design which captures everything, heavy breathing, crunching bones, the sounds of stop motion characters moving around in their gristle helps envelope you in the world. The stop motion creatures (created by Dan Martin) are fantastic creations, add an extra layer of both ick and creep, becoming as much a part of the story as their human counterparts.
Aisling Franciosi (The Nightingale) is, yet again, amazing. There is barely any time that she isn’t on screen, and she utterly owns the film. Solidifying her as one of the best actors working at the moment. Springall as the mysterious girl is also great, giving a performance that belies her years.
The film has very clear themes on obsession and the need for creative people to make something that they are happy with, that other people will think is worth something. Worth your time, your skills – worthwhile. Stopmotion leans hard into the creative process and turns it into something literal. This allegory is as blunt as a sledgehammer to the face, and it leaves a mark.
This easily could have been a paint by numbers ‘creative person goes insane’ film by it is lifted by Morgan’s direction and by Franciosi’s powerful performance. The writing by Morgan with Robin King is great and very smart. However, don’t think that the film is afraid to get graphic – the finale is somewhat of a squirm-in-your-seat endurance test in this regard.
Horrific in all the right ways, Stopmotion is amazing.
Stopmotion opens February 23 in Cinemas (USA)
Ryan Morrissey-Smith
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