🧵 Coraline (2009) Review 🧵

“Buttons, Tunnels, and Trauma”

🎥 Let’s start by showing y’all the trailers, shall we?

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🌀 Non-Spoiler Plot Overview

Coraline follows Coraline Jones (Dakota Fanning), a curious and stubborn little girl who moves into a new house with her distracted parents. She stumbles upon a small hidden door in the wall that leads to an alternate world — one where her “Other Mother” and “Other Father” (both voiced by Teri Hatcher as mom and John Hodgman as dad) give her the attention, love, and perfect meals she doesn’t get at home.

But there’s a catch: everyone in this world has buttons for eyes. And the longer Coraline stays, the clearer it becomes this isn’t a wonderland at all — it’s a trap, and the Other Mother’s true intentions are horrific.


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👥 Character Rundown

Coraline Jones (Dakota Fanning) – Brave, bratty, relatable. She’s curious to a fault, but her courage makes her a memorable heroine.

Mel Jones / Other Mother (Teri Hatcher) – Regular mom is distracted and stressed. The Other Mother is nightmare fuel. Her warm smile and perfect dinners hide razor teeth, sewing needles, and a hunger for souls.

Charlie Jones / Other Father (John Hodgman) – Coraline’s goofy, overworked dad. In the Other World, he’s cheerful until he becomes a puppet under the Other Mother’s control.

Wybie Lovat (Robert Bailey Jr.) – The awkward neighbor kid who adds comic relief but also plays a huge role in helping Coraline escape.

The Cat (Keith David) – A snarky, sarcastic talking cat who is both ally and exposition machine.

Miss Spink & Miss Forcible (Jennifer Saunders & Dawn French) – Retired stage performers. In the Other World, they give us one of the most “what the hell??” moments in kids’ movie history.



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⏱️ Pacing / Episode Flow

The movie has a steady climb. It starts off mysterious and whimsical — secret doors, candy-colored alternate worlds, fun neighbors. But the pacing gradually darkens. The tone shifts into pure horror by the final act, where the movie transforms from a fairy tale into a nightmare. The escalation is brilliant: each visit to the Other World strips away the illusion until you’re trapped in a full-on horror chase sequence.


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✅ Pros

Scariest kids’ film ever: The Other Mother is one of the most terrifying animated villains. Her gradual transformation — from doting mom to elongated, skeletal spider-witch — is pure nightmare fuel.

Iconic visuals: Stop-motion at its finest. The button eyes, the colorful Other World, the dark tunnel — all stick in your head forever.

Atmosphere: Henry Selick (director of The Nightmare Before Christmas) knew how to balance whimsy and dread. The movie is dripping with atmosphere.

Memorable set pieces: The ghost children, the doll, the theater scene, the terrifying finale in the web chamber — unforgettable.



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❌ Cons

Inappropriate humor/design choices: That sequence where Coraline watches the Other Spink and Forcible perform on stage, stripping down to… nearly nude with tassels? Kids were in theaters watching that. It’s weird. Very weird.

May be too scary for kids: Let’s be honest, this traumatized more children than it entertained. Button eyes and parental betrayal cut deep.



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💭 Final Thoughts

Coraline isn’t just a kids’ film — it’s an initiation rite. It taught an entire generation that “animated” doesn’t always mean safe or happy. The scares hold up today, and the film balances fairy-tale wonder with psychological horror in a way few animated movies have ever dared to. It’s creepy, gorgeous, and timeless.


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⭐ Rating

10/10 – A modern classic of horror animation.


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🚨 Spoiler Warning 🚨

Major spoilers for Coraline ahead. If you haven’t seen it, turn back now.


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🕷️ Spoilers

The Other Mother’s true form: Easily the most horrifying part of the movie. She starts as a loving, glamorous mom figure, but the illusion cracks — her hair thins, her skin stretches, her limbs turn angular. By the climax, she’s a full-blown skeletal spider-thing, long fingers clacking like sewing needles.

“Button eyes” offer: The moment she asks Coraline to sew buttons into her own eyes is straight-up body horror. No kid forgot this scene.

Ghost children: Coraline discovers the trapped souls of kids the Other Mother lured before her. Their button eyes, faint voices, and broken spirits are chilling.

The chase: The final sequence in the collapsing tunnel is pure nightmare fuel. The Other Mother shrinks into a rabid spider-like demon, screeching and clawing as Coraline scrambles through the dark, narrow passage. Her elongated limbs scraping the tunnel walls? Horrifying.

The theater scene: Yes, the infamous one. The Other Spink and Forcible put on a show… in skin-colored bodysuits with tassels. For kids watching this, it was confusing, bizarre, and uncomfortable. For adults? Just… why was this in a kids’ movie at all?

The hand fight: After Coraline thinks she’s safe, the severed hand of the Other Mother stalks her in the real world. It’s one last jolt of nightmare imagery before the happy ending.



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👁️ Why Coraline Is Still Scary Today

The reason Coraline lingers isn’t just the creepy visuals — it’s the themes. The idea of parents being replaced by “better” versions cuts straight to childhood fears of neglect and abandonment. The buttons-for-eyes imagery taps into primal discomfort with body horror. And the Other Mother’s final form, crawling after Coraline in a narrow tunnel, plays on claustrophobia and predatory dread.

It’s not just a movie you watch as a kid. It’s one that stays with you. Decades later, grown adults still shiver when they hear the words: “How about you let me sew buttons into your eyes?”