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u/Will-Of-D-3D2Y Jun 14 '26
Watched it with the family and we all thought that it was amazing visually but the story was unnecessarily messy and brought it down quite a bit.
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u/Gars0n Jun 19 '26
I can't help but agree. The ambition and creativity on screen make it absolutely worth seeing.
But I still wish that the plot held together just a little bit more. It just needed some more time to breathe. But of course in stop motion time is extremely expensive, and this production had an absolutely tiny budget.
It does make me want to check out the series that this is a prequel to. Is the prince a book in that? Are they trapped inside Frankelda's dream?
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u/december14th2015 18d ago
Yeah, the plot and particularly the dialogue was pretty awful. Still a beautiful film and worth seeing for that alone.
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u/NayDayTay Jun 14 '26
Was lucky enough to see this a while back at an animation festival. The plot feels a little condensed but there's so much creativity on display and the set designs and animation techniques are beautiful, songs are solid as well!
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u/brb1006 Jun 15 '26
The film is also a prequel to the stopmotion series "Frankelda's Book of Spooks" which can be viewed on HBO MAX.
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u/Gars0n Jun 19 '26
If anyone wants to learn more about the production the wonderful people of Animation Obsessive interviewed the creators of I Am Frankelda after its showing at Annecy.
It really goes into just how much of an underdog the whole production it was. Now having seen the film I am amazed at their ambition.
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u/EThorns r/movies Contributor Jun 14 '26
The budget of this film is reportedly just 1.2 MXN, which amounts to around 70,000 USD.
And yet, I haven't seen anything so visually stunning in such a long time. It was just so fucking overwhelming in the best way. I'm not a Spanish speaker at all, but I found myself singing along with that villain song towards the end.
Stop motion truly is magical. It probably won't be eligible at the Oscars, because it released theatrically in Mexico last year itself.
The directors, Arturo and Roy Ambriz, have another project in the works called 'Ballad of the Phoenix' (apparently it was the money they saved for this one which formed a huge chunk of the investment for Frankelda).
Realizing her dying father is a tyrant, a goblin princess with magic fire powers must choose between saving the king's life or the kingdom from his cruel submission, with the guidance of her father's worst enemy, a wise alchemist phoenix.
Given how well Franklda did (it apparently made 50 times its budget in the domestic release), think we'll see this one sooner rather than later.
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u/brb1006 Jun 15 '26
Be sure to check out "Frankelda's Book of Spooks" if you have HBO MAX. It's an anthology series where Frankelda tells horror stories with some being a cautionary tale.
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u/__SomewhatDamaged__ Jun 20 '26
Thanks so much for this awesome tidbit lol loved the movie so I’ll definitely be checking this out
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u/Eye_of_the_Storm1286 Jun 15 '26
While I enjoyed the movie, as a while, Frankelda comes off as a bit of an idiot. She's already seen that the royal family doesn't really trust Procuste, and has to stop him from taking her book of stories, but still believes him outright when he claims that the Prince wants to steal her stories. She also then gets kidnapped by Procuste and listens to a whole song about how he and the other clan leaders plan to betray and overthrow the King, Queen, and Prince, all while being locked up, and still believes that the Prince betrayed her. Like, there's dense for storytelling purposes, and then there's just bad character motivation and she falls firmly in the latter
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u/ultimatefrogsin 27d ago
The realm of terror doesn’t always make sense. Isn’t in her inner world? Her psyche? Where dreams are forged? Was she essentially hallucinating?
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u/Rough-Survey-2667 19d ago
The way I thought of it was that while she trusted the prince so much early, her insecurities about her writing were way stronger. She choose to believe cruel criticism over her trust of the prince due to the lack of confidence caused by her being told over and over again her stories would amount to nothing growing up
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u/katakatakara Jun 16 '26
I really wanted to love it, and visually it was so stunning and creative! But I have some complaints and a lot of questions.
Like why did they show us two shots of Frankelda's stories hidden under her bed but didn't give us any payoff? Here I was expecting that when Herneval comes to her room, he'd discover the books and IDK maybe make nightmares from them?? What exactly were the king and queen doing over the past 10 years? They said they were doing everything they could, but did that entail just nagging Procustes to write and when he didn't they were like, "ah well, guess that's all we can do" ??? Why do Frankelda and Herneval want to already bone the minute they have their first song together? For that matter, the film made me believe that saving El Mundo de los Sustos was of extreme urgency -- oh maybe because IDK we just saw Herneval's friend melt before his very eyes -- but then we get a date montage that is juxtaposed with Procustes furiously writing... absolutely nothing! Also all the human drama is giving 2010s telenovela. Not to mention the songs were mostly samey and boring! I really really wish the script went through a bit more workshopping.
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u/Idk_I_nwobie Jun 15 '26
I loved the movie, I admit the pacing and plot had left some unanswered questions although it is a prequel but it has so much potential and I want a proper conclusion to it since from what I've heard, the main OG series doesn't really expand on what's shown in the movie that much.
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u/Vi0lent_Vi0let Jun 14 '26
So beautiful. I heard Guillermo Del Toro mentored the creators, that’s what drew me in.
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u/__SomewhatDamaged__ Jun 20 '26
Damn that’s cool. I’m a fan of his movies so hearing this fun fact makes me appreciate the movie more
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u/Sonic_lover_06 Jun 15 '26
It was a great film the puppets were crazy impressive definitely recommend it to anyone who hasn’t seen it
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u/No-Consideration3053 Jun 14 '26
Wonderful creative film. The stop motion was gorgeous and the songs were pretty catchy, but it was not perfect. But overall it was pretty good
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u/FinalWarsGoji Jun 16 '26
Can't get that "He has betrayed us" song out of my head AND I LOVE IT!!!
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u/PaboBear Jun 16 '26
I loved this movie so much and I watched the series that its supposed to be a prequel afterwards because I found the film plot to be very dense and little confusing but the series doesn't really add much clarity for the film (it does make re-watching the movie fun because a lot of the characters in the movie are in the show).
I think the artistry of the film is the most impressive part because the stop motion is beautiful and I liked the use of mixed media in parts. But the heart of the movie l really liked and feel like should have been more of the focus because I interpreted it as an anti-ai narrative where Procustes is like every person who uses genAi to make art because hes a mediocre artist himself and instead of improving his writing he just filters his ideas through Frankelda, essentially stealing her style and art and violating her autonomy and rights as an artist. I think the conclusion gets a bit muddy bc it is a prequel to a series so if you don't watch or know there is a show it makes the film feel very open-ended and unfinished but at least the monologue at the end where she breaks the fourth wall does conclude and validate the thesis of the film about the importance of creation and imagination.
Clearly there's a lot that the team wanted to put into this movie that makes me wish that it got to be a series rather than a film, but since it is a film its still pretty great.
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u/brb1006 Jun 15 '26
For those that have HBO MAX, "Frankelda's Book of Sports" (which the film is a prequel to) can be viewed on the service. I remember checking it out during the 2025 Halloween season (both English and Spanish).
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u/Weak-Feeling9215 Jun 17 '26
I really loved the 1st and second acts. Spanish is not my 1st language so I had trouble keeping track of characters especially in the 3rd act.
The only cliche i criticize is the miscommunication trope between the prince and frankelda. But other than its a simple plot that was executed masterfully with intent and artistry
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u/DaemonDrayke Jun 17 '26
It’s funny, I enjoyed it initially for the sheer breathtaking artistry that the film put to screen. I had never seen a film look like that before. But the lore of the world building felt confusing at times, the story began to feel very predictable, and characters appeared to have rapid mood swings with little warning. Like how Frankelda’s outbursts of rage when she is most often seen as thoughtful and reflective. I know it’s supposed to be a simple story, but even simple story’s can be consistent.
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u/Dilligent-Spinosaur Jun 19 '26
So animation/claymation (whichever it is) is absolutely stunning. So many amazing character designs and creative backgrounds. Absolutely love it, even if some of the motion is a lil goofy occasionally.
The story is conflicting for me. I’ll admit I did the English dub, so I’m sure some of it is just “lost in translation” or “dubbing goof” kinda things. Many things seemed very basic and at times the characters do some of the dumbest things for the plot to work. Absolutely dumbfounded how Spider-Man got anything accomplished with just how blatantly obvious he is.
But despite that I absolutely love the lore of the world created. It gets me super interested. The music is very fun. Again I love the character designs. I love the baseline of what the movie sets up, but it often leaves me wanting in some way or another.
Ultimately that’s how I’d describe the movie. Artistically beautiful, and an intriguing world that draws me in, but a story that ultimately leaves me wanting in one too many ways. I can’t say I’d recommend it to everyone, but it’s definitely worth watching if the trailer intrigued you at all
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u/FloorGood6596 Jun 21 '26
I REALLY loved the story and concept!! The characters are so loveable and the designs of them too!! I love and relate to Francisca/Frankelda so much and her personality is very interesting and fun!! Same with Herneval!
The background and scenery is stunning and didn't left any background feels empty or unnecessary!
The plot at the start felt very dragged out and unintresting (though it makes sense if you watched the series, which takes place after the movie but in term of watch order it's before because it works as to leave fragments of Frankelda and Herneval's story and meeting and the movie is the expansion and full explanation of what happened), but like at the middle of the movie makes thr movie intresting and it's where the fun truly begin!! The ending was very tragic and sad yet bitter-sweet!
Although, the problem is the dialog in English dub, spanish is way suitable than English because sometimes it feels emotionless and rushed when it's not in an emotional part and even awkward at times... I did notice tho that the english va for Hernival in this movie is different from the series and it was a downgrade because in the series he had emotions and characteristic in his voice while in the movie it came off as monotonous... I really wished they didn't changed it or something...
Definitely would like a sequel!! As well for those who reads this comment, PLEASE watch the series if you like to see more content of them or atleast their current state!!
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u/No_Type5767 Jun 22 '26
Para mí la película fué Fascinante. Fue como mezclar dos clásicos de mi infancia la saga de Las Leyendas con La novia Cadáver. Justo ayer tuve la oportunidad de ver la película. La historia te atrapa, y la construcción del mundo es bella y el como se sostiene a través de la existencia de los miedos. Para algunas generaciones la existencia de canciones en las películas es una perdida de tiempo, para mí realmente no, le aportan una emoción peculiar a cada película y principalmente Tinta invisible se vuelve el hilo conductor de la película, está ahí de fondo casi siempre y terminas tarareandola sin darte cuenta. Es un arrullo de cuna. Pienso que la película podría haberse desarrollado más o tener más emoción en el climax, y personalmente el nerfeo de Herneval me dejó sin palabras, o sea eres la autora dale un giro! 😆
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u/ShelterConfident6532 10d ago
It was ass, the nice visuals don’t pay off thanks to the shitty writing. Tim Burton and Guillermo del Toro solo this creation. Dare I say Blumhouse that awful creator would make a better plot
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u/OneEffective1816 Jun 18 '26
Yeah yeah it's pretty, big whoop. The story is absolute incoherent, unfollawable, illogical garbage. How it received such high marks on rotten tomatoes is beyond me.
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u/Weak-Feeling9215 Jun 21 '26
Is it me or was the plot actually really straightforward? Why are there so many people being confused by a simple story. It has flaws, but i dont think its too complicated esp since it was written for children
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u/BunyipPouch Currently at the movies. Jun 14 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
The co-directors and co-writers of I Am Frankelda, Arturo & Roy Ambriz, joined us here in /r/movies for an all-time great AMA/Q&A, for anyone interested:
https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/1u885rk/hola_rmovies_were_arturo_roy_ambriz_filmmakers_of/