*Not a ton to spoil here…

IMDB Synopsis

The two devious demon brothers Wendell and Wild have to face their arch-enemy with the help of the nun Sister Helly, who is notorious for expelling demons. However, the brothers are not only plagued by her, but also by her altar boys.

“Children, life is precious. Right now, you’re wasting mine.”

We have talked about Netflix a lot here on this site and we have also touched on Netflix Animation with VIVO last year. What makes a Netflix movie, and honestly most movies good or bad is the team behind them. So hearing Netflix is coming out with a new animated movie written by Jordan Peele and Directed by Henry Selick, the hype meter immediately goes through the roof. I mean this is the guy that made NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH, and CORALINE, so anything he puts on camera has to be taken extremely serious. Also now that Jordan Peele is fully established, anything he puts his name on is immediately elevated to a higher level. So, did it work, lets talk about it.

Animation – A+

To be honest Animation does not really get much better than this. Stop Motion is always going to get a higher grade just because of how hard and detailed It has to be, however this is just next level. The sets, the colors, the characters, you would never even know it is stop motion unless you looked it up. Henry Selick might be the greatest stop motion animator of all time, and he does not disappoint here for one moment.

Voice Cast – A

A phenomenal cast here of course, with Peele and his partner Keegan Michael Key, the incomparable Angela Basset, the legend James Hong, and I even loved Lyric Ross as our main character Kat. Every voice felt so unique and diverse that it made it a joy to listen to everyone. Also, just having Key and Peele back doing something together is just a treat and I will not take it for granted.

Music – B

I actually liked some of the music a lot and it really invoked the Halloween vibe of the film. Selick obviously loves this aesthetic and it comes across in the music as well. Bruno Coulais who did the music also did WOLFWALKERS, so clearly he is able to find the vibe of the film and bring music to fit that vibe rather than trying to empress his style on the movie.

Story – C-

This was frustrating because if the plot was a little less convoluted this had a chance to be an all time film. It just feels like they tried to overstuff the plot with so many ideas that nothing really is fully realized. I really liked the basic idea of a girl feeling guilt over the death of her parents and trying to make up for that. But the movie loses its way in the middle of it unfortunately. It does come back around and has an emotional ending though and one that might hit more on a second watch.

*A couple other tidbits

• The post credits scene was very funny.
• James Hong might have the most recognizable voice in movie history.

I would like to recommend this movie for sure, because the visuals, the cast and the movie are very worth it. You might question the plot a few times as you go through but I think the rest of the movie is good enough where it will not matter. I definitely think this will be added into my halloween rotation in the years moving forward.

Juice Rating:

*You can find my 2022 Movie Rankings here.

*You can find all of my Movie Ratings here.

*You can follow my Letterboxd account here.