I Am Frankelda Review: Stop-Motion Fantasy Film is A Frightfully Odd Delight

It might surprise you to learn that I Am Frankelda, the latest in a surprisingly long line of stop-motion animated films from various artists picked up by Netflix and the first stop-motion feature film to be shot entirely in Mexico, is not an original property. Rather, the film is a prequel to a Latin American Cartoon Network anthology miniseries titled Frankelda’s Book of Spooks, meant to explore the backstory of the titular character who served as that show’s narrator. I did not know this when I first watched the film, and yet it explains a lot.

It explains why the world and characters feel so rich and vibrant right away, and it explains why first-time feature directors Arturo and Roy Ambriz, along with their entire team, seem so naturally adept at creating incredible cinematic visuals. But it also explains why the film’s pacing can feel a little wonky and why, despite the tremendous amount of things it has going for it, it fumbles ever so slightly on the landing.

What is I Am Frankelda about?

I Am Frankelda | Cr. Netflix © 2026.

Our story takes place in 19th-century Mexico, where a young woman named Frankelda has the horror stories she loves writing constantly rejected by sexist publishers, as was the unfortunate style at the time. However, things change when one of the characters she created, a humanoid owl prince named Herneval, turns out to be real, hailing from an alternate subconscious dimension sustained by human dreams and creativity known as the Realm of Terrors.

Frankelda’s talent and passion for horror are quickly recognized by Herneval and the rest of the Royal Family, who want Frankelda to become the new Royal Nightmare Maker and supply dreams to humans. But that title’s current holder, a giant spider-person named Procustes, is jealous of Frankelda and plots to seize her power and control of the realm for himself. Will Frankelda be able to rewrite her own destiny or has her worst nightmare finally come true?

I Am Frankelda Review

Credit: Netflix

For the record, no, you do not have to have seen or even heard of the obscure Latin American Cartoon Network show that I Am Frankelda is a prequel to in order to understand it. The film has been advertised as a standalone work made by ambitious creatives under the guidance of the legendary Guillermo del Toro because it very much functions as such in spite of its origins. In fact, the film ends up occupying a similar niche to del Toro’s stop-motion adaptation of Pinocchio, in that they both ponder the question of what it means to exist.

Pinocchio obviously explored that through the main character seeking to be real, whereas Frankelda explores how things are made real by the emotional impact they have on us, rather than a more rigid definition of reality. The characters from the Realm of Terrors are literally fiction made manifest by human belief, and when Frankelda first arrives there, she is quickly told she cannot understand it through the lens of traditional reality. This serves to punctuate the film’s main theme: the power and impact of storytelling.

Credit: Netflix

Everyone in this movie has an intense relationship with stories. Frankelda loves making stories, her antagonistic grandmother is horrified by stories, the Royal Family desperately needs new stories, and Procustes is furious that no one is interested in his own stories, hence his attempted coup. This all serves to illustrate how even the most fantastical stories can feel real to us, perhaps even more real than our own lives, if they are told well enough, especially given how often Frankelda is told by her naysayers that her stories are “too disconnected from reality.”

That message is further enhanced by the film’s breathtaking animation and design work. Every character and location has a bold, memorable, and vividly detailed look, but it’s also deliberately designed to remind you that you are watching a story being told. The design work here is very much not aiming for realism. You can tell that these characters are puppets, you can tell that these locations are built sets that the puppets have been placed in, and most importantly, you can tell that everything in the film has been constructed, painted, and otherwise created by hand by humans.

Every little fold on the paper grass, every little strand of doll hair on the puppet’s heads or on Procustes’ spider legs, every single thing in this movie is packed with gorgeous detail that makes everything feel as real to me as the Realm of Terrors eventually feels to Frankelda. I also appreciate that, given the emphasis on nightmares, they didn’t simply make the moral “Nightmares Bad, Dreams Good,” instead exploring the artistry of horror and how it can make a positive impact long-term despite the negative feelings it can create in the moment.

So, the film is top-notch both visually and thematically. It also has a great voice cast whose brilliant performances shine through in spite of my own language barrier (It should be noted that the film is entirely in Spanish and my sensory issues often make following subtitled films difficult, but I had almost no issues here), and the musical numbers, when the film remembers that it’s also a musical, all have a grand, operatic feel while still being sonically distinct from one another. Where it starts to slightly lose me is the actual main plot.

Don’t get me wrong, the main story isn’t bad by any means. It’s got a very strong hook, Procustes’ villain plot works, Frankelda’s arc is very compelling, and the burgeoning romance between her and Herneval is pretty adorable. But for whatever reason, whether it be the inherent dream logic at play or the film starting out as a 30-minute HBO Max special before turning into a nearly two-hour feature, the pacing never quite clicked with me. The back half in particular feels like it happens too fast and too slow at the same time.

And without going into spoilers, the ending doesn’t exactly provide the most satisfying resolution. While the final sequence is very good in and of itself, most of the main plot threads are still left hanging by the time the credits roll. Whether this is simply meant to evoke a “The Story Continues” vibe or serve as a lead-in to the pre-existing TV series is up for debate, but it does mean I left a work I otherwise very much enjoyed on a weird note.

Is I Am Frankelda worth watching?

Credit: Netflix

Despite my issues with it, I still heartily recommend I Am Frankelda. The visuals are breathtaking, the characters are compelling, the music is excellent, and the themes of passion and creativity thriving in spite of the cruelties of reality spoke to me as both a lover of stories and an aspiring storyteller. It might not be perfect, but you won’t see anything else like it this year and that alone makes it worth seeking out.

I Am Frankelda premieres in select theaters and on Netflix June 12.

I Am Frankelda Review: Stop-Motion Fantasy Film is A Frightfully Odd Delight