After debuting at the London Film Festival at the end of 2023, Robert Morgan’s Stopmotion went on a tour of the genre festivals. Those it played at included Fantastic Fest and Celluloid Screams, with Stopmotion playing secretly in the latter spot. Stopmotion then landed on Shudder, and from 1st July, it will be available to own on digital, DVD, and Blu-ray via Acorn Media International.
The feature film is the culmination of years of work from Robert Morgan, a director perhaps better known for his strange and spooky shorts. Stopmotion is a phenomenal blending of both live-action and stop-motion footage; it is gorgeous and grotesque. Following the death of her overbearing mother, stop-motion animator, Ella Blake (Aisling Franciosi – The Nightingale, Game of Thrones, God’s Creatures), is struggling to control her demons. She embarks on a new film project in the hope that it will channel her creativity and help her escape her problems… but it soon becomes the battleground for her sanity. As Ella’s fragile mind starts to fracture, the characters in her movie take on a life of their own and events spiral into an unimaginable nightmarish hellscape.
In our review out of Celluloid Screams we described Stopmotion as “A compelling tale of the dangers of obsession and art’s ability to consume. Excellently constructed animation plays against an incredible live-action performance by Aisling Franciosi to create a thoroughly creative macabre nightmare.” Despite seeing it back in October 2023, Stopmotion has been a movie that has haunted our dreams and so THN were thrilled to be offered time to pick director Robert Morgan’s brain. We spoke about the perils of immersing oneself in their art, designing the perfect depraved puppet, and exactly why Aisling Franciosi was the only person for the part of Ella.
Robert Morgan’s Stopmotion arrives on DVD, Blu-ray and digital from Monday 1st July 2024.
