This children’s animation will scare you more than many horror films. I remember that fear to this day

For many children born at the turn of the 1990s and 2000s (especially in Poland), “Coralina” was the first horror film they reached for before they officially became familiar with this exciting genre. I also belong to this group, although I must admit that at the age of only a few years I did not fully understand the message of this remarkable story.

Today, I am not surprised at all because it is hard to expect a small child to be able to look at certain situations from the perspective of an older, more experienced person. This applies not only to “Coraline”, but also to other books that are intended for young readers. Even the simple message of “Winnie the Pooh” takes on a deeper meaning when you watch it again after many years. Then, as mature viewers, we begin to understand that this is not only a story about great friendship, but also loneliness, excessive naivety and other problems that we encounter in adult life.

Coming back to Coraline, however, about a girl whose childhood innocence collides with brutal reality, it was written by Neil Gaiman and went on sale in 2002. The author based the story on universal motifs that have already appeared in other well-known novels. For example, the portal through which the title character gets to an alternative reality is deceptively similar to the rabbit hole from “Alice in Wonderland”. Also, the alternate world turns out to be a dark land where evil rules. It is no wonder that the book was so successful internationally and was adapted for the screen.

It was made as an animation, but the characters with buttons instead of eyes and the long and thin limbs of the Other Mother are not something you can pass by indifferently. Also the scene in which the ruthless, soul-sucking Other Mother disembowels a child’s doll can make the viewer feel uncomfortable. It’s a feeling similar to the one that accompanies us when watching classic horror movies, but here we will not see bloodshed and demons expelled by exorcists. Instead, we have a typical, old building that hides many secrets, a character who embodies children’s worst nightmares, and a fight between good and evil. The heroine, for whom her real world was already depressing enough, has to face the Other Mother, whose victims fell to three other children.

The screen adaptation of “Coraline” should certainly be seen by all those who have previously familiarized themselves with the original. However, if you have never heard of a fantasy world in which the main character becomes a prisoner of her own desires, be sure to read Neil Gaiman’s novels.