University of Westminster Senior Lecturer Robert Morgan’s film Stopmotion was named Critic’s Choice in The New York Times after its North America theatrical premiere in February 2024.
Stopmotion is a psychological horror film that mixes live-action and stop-motion animation; deliberately blurring the lines between the two mediums. It tells the story of a stop-motion animator struggling in the aftermath of losing her overbearing mother. She starts to make a film that tests her own sanity, and as her mind begins to break, her characters come into their own life. Stopmotion was presented with IFC Films in the United Kingdom and theatrically released in North America in limited theatres in February 2024.
The film was also named Critic’s Pick in The New York Times on 22 February, with reviewer Jeannette Catsoulis writing: “There’s a dreadful innocence to the tiny puppets that drive “Stopmotion,” an unusually resolute horror tale that places a spiraling animator at the mercy of her handmade figures and her own disturbed mind...Weaving an eerily single-minded spell from the puppets’ squished-jellybean faces and misshapen limbs, the director and animator Robert Morgan has crafted a narratively slender, visually sophisticated first feature.”
Robert Morgan said: “I've had the idea for this film percolating for many years; it's a film about the creative process, and about the process of stop-motion animation in particular. It's also a horror film. Yes, stop-motion animation is scary...I worked with extremely talented people across the board; it was an amazing collaborative experience with everyone pulling together for a larger goal. We tried to lean into the spirit of independent filmmaking and create something unique.”
Principal Lecturer and Course Leader for the Animation BA Honours course Stephen Ryley said: "We are all really proud of Rob, who is an inspiration to us all. The creative journey he has taken is testament to his extraordinary resilience and determination, and this amazing and unsettling film has rightly been extremely well received."
Robert Morgan won the Best Director award at Stopmotion’s festival debut at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas in September 2023. Stopmotion also received the Special Jury Prize for the 2024 Sitges International Film Festival awards.
Learn more about courses in Film and Television at the University of Westminster.
Poster for Robert Morgan’s STOPMOTION, courtesy of IFC Films.
Robert Morgan’s STOPMOTION. Courtesy of Samuel Dole. An IFC Films and Shudder release.
Aisling Franciosi in Robert Morgan’s STOPMOTION. Courtesy of Samuel Dole. An IFC Films and Shudder release.
Robert Morgan’s STOPMOTION. Courtesy of Samuel Dole. An IFC Films and Shudder release.
Aisling Franciosi and Caoilinn Springall in Robert Morgan’s STOPMOTION. Courtesy of Samuel Dole. An IFC Films and Shudder release.
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