By Robert Scucci
| Published 1 second ago

Have you ever watched a movie so grimy and disgusting that the only way to recover from your viewing experience is to take a piping hot shower so you could melt off your outermost layer of skin? If you’re into that kind of thing, then you absolutely need to check out Robert Morgan’s Stopmotion, the British psychological horror film that blends live-action with stop-motion animation in a way that’s so graphic and disturbing that you’ll have to throw on the darkest Robot Chicken sketch (Darkest sketch! Darkest sketch!) you can think of to take the edge off before reentering society. Bordering on body horror, Stopmotion starts out innocent enough, but its sense of perspective quickly devolves into a psychotic break that you may not have the stomach for. 

A Puppet And Her Masters 

Stopmotion centers on Ella (Aisling Franciosi), a talented stop-motion animator who lives in the shadow of her emotionally abusive mother, Suzanne’s (Stella Gonet), success. Ella works grueling hours in her mother’s animation studio, bringing her visions to life one agonizing frame at a time, because Suzanne’s arthritis doesn’t allow her to do the work herself. Despite Ella’s obvious talent, it’s clear that she’s always going to be second-in-command if she doesn’t lean into her own creations instead of always working tirelessly on somebody else’s. 

When Suzanne suffers from a stroke in Stopmotion, Ella first thinks that it’s her duty to finish her mother’s film before she dies. Setting up shop in an abandoned apartment building owned by her boyfriend, Tom (Tom York), Ella continues her mother’s work, but decides to scrap the project when she has a run in with a little girl (Caoilinn Springall) who lives in one of the neighboring units and finds her story boring. Upon starting her own new project, the little girl manipulates her into instead working on a story about a girl in the woods being chased by a creature known as “the Ash Man.” 

You’ve Been Acting Quite Strange

As Ella continues to work with the little girl, Stopmotion aggressively blurs the line between stop-motion animation versus live-action, as well as perception versus reality. With her creativity being controlled by yet another emotionally abusive puppet master, Ella stops using mortician’s wax to create her figures in favor of using spoiled meat and flesh from dead animals she finds in the woods. Though Ella entertains the idea of ingesting hallucinogens for creative inspiration, her blackouts aren’t the result of mind-altering substances, but rather her own naturally unravelling psychological state. 

Waking up to a wrecked apartment on numerous occasions, Ella is continually encouraged by the little girl to review the footage of the Ash Man that was allegedly shot while she was physically – but not mentally – present. Feeling an immense amount of pressure to create a meaningful piece of art while also grieving her mother’s declining health, Ella continues to spiral as her figures become increasingly detailed and grotesque, causing her to hallucinate from lack of sleep and proper nutrition as she further isolates herself with artistic intent. With each blackout, and subsequent exchange with the little girl who follows her wherever she goes in Stopmotion, Ella gets one step closer to finishing her masterpiece to the detriment of her relationships and her rapidly deteriorating mental health. 

Streaming Stopmotion

Through its many stylistic changes, Stopmotion is a trip worth taking when Ella’s creations take on a life of their own. As Ella finds herself in a deep state of psychosis, she stops at nothing to leave her mark as a serious auteur, with horrific consequences that are equal parts imagined and all-too-real, but never fully understood from her perspective. Functioning as a cautionary tale about losing yourself to the artistic process, Stopmotion is a must-watch for anybody who doesn’t know when, or how, to take a break when their entire world begins to collapse around their creative vision. 

I’m giving you fair warning, however, because there were several moments when I genuinely covered my eyes with my hands, peered through my fingers, and said “Hell no, I’m not watching this.” 

Stopmotion is an assault on the senses, and not for those with a low tolerance for gore. But if you see my warning as a challenge, then you can stream this macabre masterpiece on Hulu as of this writing.