Movie Knight
Coraline
PG

Coraline

Be careful what you wish for.

2009 • 100 min • Animation · Family · Fantasy

Join the Angel GuildWrite your reviewSign in to rate and review

Synopsis

Wandering her rambling old house in her boring new town, 11-year-old Coraline discovers a hidden door to a strangely idealized version of her life. In order to stay in the fantasy, she must make a frighteningly real sacrifice.

Our family guide

Best from age 9
90
Movie Knight Score
9230 reviews
  • 100 Reviewers · 3 · 53%
  • 79 Audience · 9227 · 47%

Moving to a new house, Coraline discovers a secret door to a seemingly perfect parallel world. But this dazzling fantasy holds a dark secret, demanding a frightening sacrifice from her. She must use her courage to escape the Other Mother and save her family.

Violence & peril
4/10
Language
1/10
Drinking, drugs & smoking
0/10
Romance & sensuality
0/10
Scary moments
7/10

Heads up

  • Visually spooky atmosphere
  • Characters with button eyes
  • Implied threat of child abduction

What it models well

  • Courage and bravery
  • Appreciating your own family
  • Imagination and discovery

Talk about it after

  • What makes the "Other World" initially appealing?
  • How does Coraline show bravery even when scared?
  • The difference between fantasy and reality

Written by the Movie Knight editorial team for Coraline. Our own words, our own scoring — always double-check against your family's standards.

Where to watch

Rent

Links go straight to each service. Some are affiliate links that support Movie Knight at no cost to you. Availability data by JustWatch via TMDB.

Top billed cast

Director: Henry Selick • Crew: Henry Selick

Trailers & clips

Behind the Scenes: Animating Other Father

Animator’s Eye: The Inspiration Behind Mr. Bobinsky

Sketch to Screen: Animating Coraline’s Garden Party

Coraline Ambience: Sounds from the Other World

15th Anniversary Encore

Henry Selick on Coraline and his love of stop-motion animation | BFI in Conversation

Coraline actor Teri Hatcher and director Henry Selick | BFI Q&A

"Unwinding the Web" Live Action Scene

Reviewer notes

RecommendedTrusted family reviewers

Fantastic watch, will watch again, and do recommend. I really wish more movies would follow this simple and great movie structure. Instead of a typical 3-act structure (not that it isn't technically there), the story is much closer to that of a video game. You have a standard introductory act, but the rest of the movie is split into video game-esque "levels" that develop and unlock as Coraline makes new dis...

RecommendedTrusted family reviewers

Quite dark, but entertaining and very well done. One of the few american animated movies I liked.

RecommendedTrusted family reviewers

Neil Gaiman is so contemporarily vital, both in literature and cinema, because he more than anyone else (with the possible exception of Terry Gilliam) notes that children and adults alike are fascinated with what lies outside our observable and tangible realms of existence. He realized the reasons storytelling have been significantly important since the dawn of mankind, and devised, as the Brothers Grimm did, that...

Fan reviews

Sign in to rate and review

Be the first fan to review this.

Gallery

Coraline stillCoraline stillCoraline stillCoraline stillCoraline stillCoraline stillCoraline stillCoraline still

Details

TMDB audience
7.9/10 (9,227)
Age rating
PG
Status
Released
Budget
$60,000,000
Box office
$185,860,104
IMDb
tt0327597

More like this

Also right for this age