Review of Coraline and the Secret Door

Coraline is one of my favorite movies. No exaggeration, I've seen it more than 30 times; I know the dialogue by heart and even the alternate endings. I'm fascinated by it.

It's a 2009 film directed by Henry Selick, a director who doesn't get the credit he deserves. Many people associate this style with Tim Burton, but Selick actually directed The Nightmare Before Christmas and brought Coraline to life. Burton wrote the story for The Nightmare Before Christmas, yes, but he had absolutely nothing to do with Coraline. I think Selick should be much more widely recognized.

The story follows Coraline, a girl who moves to a new house. There, she discovers a small secret door that leads her to another version of her home, where her parents and everyone else have button eyes. It's a world that seems better than the real one… but it isn't.

What's great about Coraline is that it allows for many interpretations. The most common is to see her as a girl who doesn't receive attention at home and who, upon finding affection on the "other side," wants to stay there. But I recently saw a reflection by Farid Dieck that I loved: he interprets the film as a metaphor for drugs. That feeling of false well-being, the temptation to stay in a world that seems perfect, and then discovering the true intentions when the "other parents" ask him to sew his button eyes shut. That's when the facade crumbles.

Personally, I give it a 9/10. For me, it's a perfect film that has aged beautifully. I'll never tire of watching it and I'll always recommend it.