ParaNorman

In the town of Blithe Hollow, Norman Babcock can speak to the dead, but no one other than his eccentric new friend believes his ability is real. One day, Norman's eccentric uncle tells him of a ritual he must perform to protect the town from a curse cast by a witch centuries ago.

Laika's stop-motion horror-comedy won over most critics with its handcrafted visual inventiveness and a script that takes childhood outsider anxiety seriously rather than just mining it for laughs. The film works on two levels — spooky entertainment for kids and something more reflective for adults — though a handful of reviewers felt the plot never quite matched the ambition of its craft.