Coraline

Director: Henry Selick

"Coraline" is the latest original 3D animated adventure by Henry Selick, the director of "The Nightmare before Christmas." The animated movie is based on Neil Gaimans international best-selling book, which won a swag of literary awards and has been compared to Lewis Carroll's famed novel Alice in Wonderland.

This fantastical adventure, however, is more sinister. Coraline Jones (Dakota Fanning) arrives to a new home where she is faced by boredom and isolation. Ignored by her hard-working parents, she explores the spooky house meeting insane, drunk and variously eccentric neighbors. 
The search for something exiting ends when Coraline receives a doll, which looks exactly like her and leads the girl to discover a secret door in the house. Behind the door, lies a fantastic pathway to an alternate world - a much better version of Coraline's life, or so it seems in the beginning.
In this exciting new world her mother (Teri Hatcher) and father (John Hodgman) are much more dedicated and attentive.

However, the freakish sides of this alternate reality begin to reveal themselves as the story progresses. There is something sinister in the air of the Other world and Coraline realizes she must set out on a quest. Luckily she receives some help from a few unexpected allies.
The depressing and gloomy atmosphere of the movie might be an attraction to some viewers, but a turn-off for others, especially younger viewers.

Although Coraline sounds intimidating, it really is not as scary as its plot summary sounds, and could be watched by the whole family (except for the smallest ones). It is weird, but not insane; bizarre, but not too disturbing; freakish, but comic. The main heroine is a very courageous and self-sufficient young girl, leaving the audience with no doubt of her success.
The moral of the story is basically to "be careful what you wish for" and learning that life is not about getting everything you want right away but rather, a steady progress built on trust and love. Adjustment to natural, unavoidable cycles of life is necessary, while inventiveness and courage wins out even in the Other world.


Now showing in Estonia and Lithuania. Opens Aug. 4 in Latvia