When Coraline moves to an old house, she feels bored and neglected by her parents. She finds a hidden door with a bricked up passage. During the night, she crosses the passage and finds a parallel world where everybody has buttons instead of eyes, with caring parents and all her dreams coming true. When the Other Mother invites Coraline to stay in her world forever, the girl refuses and finds that the alternate reality where she is trapped is only a trick to lure her.
This movie contains 42 potentially triggering events.
Several stuffed dogs are shown sitting on shelves, though no dogs die onscreen. A mouse is pierced and goes limp, turning into a rat as sand pours out. Nothing graphic.
Arguable. The Cat appears to be a stray that Wybie takes care of, but the Cat (who is sentient and speaks in the Other Mother's realm) doesn't really see himself as belonging to anyone, being independent and doing what he likes.
The "other" mother and her creations were a part of a world that was tailored towards isolating a child, and some abusive tactics were used to lure Coraline.
coraline's parents are debatably neglectful and by the end, she puts in effort to save them and is shown to have a more positive relationship with them after the experience
Other mother symbolizes (and acts like) an abusive mother. She abuses coraline. The other three dead kids were abused. Coralines original parents are also neglected coraline.
A sentient cat is a major character. While he does not speak outside of the Other Mother's realm, he does on the other side of the tunnel. He's mostly sarcastic, but he does express emotions like disappointment and fear. The most major example is when Coraline throws him at the Other Mother in an act of self-defense, which leads him to scratch her eyes out in panic (his hissing can be heard). A later scene has the cat act miffed about it until Coraline apologizes to him (he accepts).
There isn't any actual pedophilia, but the Other Mother's M.O. is highly evocative of child grooming. She essentially love-bombs her victims by providing what their parents couldn't give them with the intent of preying upon them later. While she isn't sexually abusive, it may be a trigger with this in mind.
The Other Father's piano 'plays him', or in other words, it uses mechanical arms with gloves on the end that he wears to control his movements. While the first time this is seen it's played for whimsy, the second time it's played for horror as it's used to cover his mouth and wag its finger at him, before grabbing him by the head with both hands. A similar visual is seen again during the Other Father's death scene, where he's confined to a rampaging machine through similar mechanical arms, with his apologizing throughout. Coraline also gets trapped in a room hidden behind a mirror, and it's heavily implied this is where the ghost children have been kept this entire time. Coraline's parents also get kidnapped in the third act, and it's ultimately revealed the Beldam has been keeping them confined inside a snow globe hidden in plain sight.
Coraline is almost strangled in one scene and audibly starts choking for a few seconds, but Wybie quickly rescues her. There is a red marking on her neck for the rest of the scene, but seems to be back to normal fairly quickly.
Most of it is fantastic, but still potentially upsetting. It includes the constant threat of sewing buttons into eyes. Later during the third act, the 'other' versions of characters begin to revert to their true forms (ex. the Other Father grotesquely turning into a pumpkin).
No, but If the allusion of it triggers you then yes. There is a moment where an acrobat descends, legs akimbo, above Coraline's head. She is holding a pair of clippers there.
Yes and no. There are 3 ghosts of kids that were killed by the witch. There's no scene of the witch actually killing these kids, just a mention. But the characters may be disturbing to some viewers.
It's revealed that Wybie's grandmother had a twin sister who was also the previous victim of the Beldam in their youth, which she did not survive. The opening scene is the Beldam tailoring the doll from its previous appearance resembling the sister to one resembling Coraline. While this is a secondary character only seen at the end, it's made clear that this has impacted Wybie's grandmother, as she does not typically allow families with children to stay in the Pink Palace (only allowing Coraline's family due to an oversight), and is implied to be protective of Wybie.
A doll is torn apart in order to be reused in the opening scene, and it's later burned. Also, I don't know if they count as "toys", but the members of the other world are very doll-like, and they are destroyed in a variety of ways.
Most of the scary scenes in this movie are more visually unnerving (or unnerving by an psychological perspective) than startling, but I believe there were a few scenes that could be considered startling. One of the prominent examples is Coraline suddenly being grabbed by Other Spink and Forcible.
unsure why so many people said there isn't a shower scene, there's a scene where coraline is looking around the new house and turns on the shower with her clothes on and then promptly turns it off again due to bugs being on her wall.
Technically, since this is a stop-motion movie that uses dolls. However, the animation is fluid plus the human designs aren't too doll-like, meaning you probably won't be creeped out by characters you aren't intended to be creeped out by. That said, there are still creepy character designs. It's implied some of the Other counterparts have doll-like components, but the ones we see deteriorate on-screen have either animalistic qualities or are based on other inanimate objects. The button eyes may make it more uncomfortable. There is also a creepy doll that is used to spy on the Other Mother's targets.
While this is not seen on-screen, the Other Mother explicitly eats her victims. The ghosts of her three previous victims are major characters, who mention she ate up their lives. Also, the cat mentions that maybe she wants someone to love, or maybe someone 'to eat.'
If it counts, Coraline initially refers to Wybie as 'Wyborne', which is what it is short for, and calls him 'Why-Were-You-Born'. Wybie isn't trans, but may still be upsetting.
Noooot really. There is a bit early on where Spink checks out the moving guys, and, while not explicit in the movie or book, is confirmed by Gaiman to be in a relationship with Forcible. However, it's unclear whether this really counts as cheating.
The Other Mother's realm uses surreal imagery that is initially whimsical, such as a literal gravy train or a milkshake dispenser in the kitchen. However, as the film progresses it becomes increasingly distorted, especially once it starts decaying and deteriorating. One scene also shows that if you try to talk away from the house it'll eventually become a white void before leading straight back from where you came.
I do believe there is a slight crunch when the other mother eats a beetle, however, for those who have misophonia it may be something to be aware of, however it didn't bother me at all.
there is a tube connecting coraline's world and the other world, she's seen going through it a few times, around the end the stakes are higher, though.
There are no ED references. However, there might be a potential trigger, in that it's established early on that Coraline's father makes unappealing 'recipes', with her skipping a meal rather than eating his cooking. This is something the Other Mother uses to manipulate Coraline, as she habitually offers her a large amount of appetizing food in order to gain her trust. It's not ED, it's just that Coraline's dad isn't a good cook. Still, worth taking into consideration!
The Other Mother's MO involves watching her victims live out their lives, then giving them exactly what they want when they arrive in her realm. She specifically uses the doll version of them to do it.
I don’t know why there’s so many people saying no. Coraline calls Wybie a “psycho” and Wybie calls Coraline “crazy” because he thinks she’s having delusions.
Miss Spink and Forciful who were confirmed to be a lesbian couple by Neil Gaiman survive the movie albeit you could argue their Other World counterparts do not
It's revealed through posters in their home that Spink and Forcible were burlesque actresses in their youth. When we're introduced to their Other counterparts later, they start out barely clothed in their present older heavyset selves, where they sing a musical number about, essentially, whether men prefer large breasts or large butts. As the performance goes on, they shed their skins to become how they looked when they were younger and more conventionally attractive.
There is a Russian character named Bobinsky, and he's mostly portrayed as a 'goofy foreigner' type character who speaks in broken English with a heavy accent. He's depicted as being eccentric in a similar way as the other neighbors (he's an ex-gymnast who is training a mouse circus and has an obsession with beets). Coraline's mom initially assumes he's drunk, but no, he's just weird. There is a subtle visual joke about his having done work cleaning up Chernobyl, but it's easy to miss. I honestly don't know if anyone is hugely offended by Bobinsky, but worth mentioning.
While not 'first' in the traditional sense, the previous victim of the Beldam before Coraline was black. The movie opens with the Other Mother taking the doll, which initially looks like the girl in question, and resewing it so that it looks like Coraline in preparation for her arrival. Wybie is also black (in fact, the girl was his great-aunt). While he survives to the end, his Other counterpart is the first to die, albeit offscreen.
Unlikely that the intent is to arouse but the musical scene sexually objectifies Spink and Forcible and there’s a line about how one of them is “too large in the chest.”
spink and forcible put on a musical and acrobatic performance dressed as mermaids. Coraline makes a comment on how they’re practically naked. Spink has a mermaid tail and shell bra. Forcible has pretty large blue gem pasties covering her nipples and also her b**t a bikini bottom on the front. Both of they ladys’ chests jiggle a lot throughout the performance. Not too bad.
Wybie appears sad to the beldam. She makes a gesture towards him to coerce him to smile. He is not verbally ridiculed but the other father does comment on his “long face.”
There is a visual that might be evocative of it. Other Spink and Forcible start their performance as their current older and heavyset selves. However, they later 'unzip' from the head, as if removing a costume, to reveal their younger, thinner selves underneath.
There is one, but you can easily skip over it without missing anything. After the end credits, a short animation of paper mice plays that isn't plot important but is visually appealing. Shortly after, text appears on the screen reading "For those in the know: jerk wad." This was intended for a contest during the US theatrical run, where it was a code for the chance to win a pair of limited edition Coraline-themed shoes. The contest has ended, so sorry to anyone who wanted to enter. The credits themselves have some fun animations of Spink and Forcible's dogs.
The ending is actually upbeat. The Beldam is defeated, Coraline reconciles with her actual parents, Spink and Forcible's dog has made a full recovery, and Wybie's grandmother receives closure about her sister's fate. That said, it is subtly implied that the Beldam might still be alive, thought effectly incapacitated.
No, but a character is wearing a medal that was handed out to first responders doing cleanup in Chernobyl, if stuff involving nuclear power bothers you. It's never referenced in dialogue, though.