by Jake Bourgeois, Contributing Writer
Despite my best efforts, stop motion animation films too often fall into the category of film that I respect, but aren’t really for me.
In the case of I am Frankelda, that sentiment is supercharged.
Per the description, “Frankelda (Mireya Mendoza), a frustrated young Mexican writer from the 19th Century, travels in the form of a ghost to a kingdom of her own invention inhabited by Spooks, which are all the monstrous characters she created in her horror tales. Her guide is Herneval (Arturo Mercado, Jr.), the Prince of Spooks, who takes her to help him save the balance between the Realm of Fiction and the Realm of Existence by using her talent as a writer.”
I love everything about the film and what it represents. Especially the work of brothers Roy and Arturo Ambriz and their studio Cinema Fantasma. Prior to giving Frankelda her own feature, the character started as an HBO Max miniseries.
As the brothers explain, “When we learned that we had the opportunity to create a protagonist of a series that would travel around world with HBO Max, we realized that there were already too many superheroes, adventurers, and athletes in TV.
“We chose to give the spotlight to a creative character: a brilliant, but ignored, female writer who finally finds an audience.
“It has been a beautiful experience for us to learn that a large sector of the audience can see themselves in Frankelda!”
That passion comes through on the screen. As a canvas, it’s clear that a lot of care and craft went into it, from the characters to the lush settings and literal world building is observably gorgeous. Any frame could easily qualify as a work of art in and of itself.
Outside of the story the film is trying to tell, the behind the scenes of the film itself is just cool to me. It feels very much in the vein of a Guillermo del Toro film with its fantastical storytelling, so it’s not a surprise that he’s a massive figure for both Ambriz brothers. Del Toro is well known for supporting fellow filmmakers, so it’s no surprise that he’s championing Mexico’s first-ever stop-motion film. Introducing more voices and an expanding pipeline for animated projects is something that is exciting for the future of the medium.
Having said all that, why this one just doesn’t quite work for me is pretty simple. The “jankiness” that comes with this style of animation that I know many people find a charm in, is more bug than feature for me. It immediately puts me at arm’s length to the story. I struggle to connect with the characters and the narrative and find my footing with the film overall.
However, despite my issues in connecting with these types of projects, everything else going on behind the scenes has me hoping this finds the passionate fanbase it deserves and provides a jumping off point for a new player in the animation game.
Rating: Just Okay
I am Frankelda is currently available to stream on Netflix.
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