The Boxtrolls (2014)

  This was the sweetest movie about genocide I've ever seen.  LAIKA is fast becoming my go-to studio for kids movies that aren't really for kids.  When I went to go see Coraline in the theaters, there was a little girl next to me who pulled herself into her jacket like a pillbug because of some of the imagery in that film.  It even freaked Christy out.  I didn't like ParaNorman as much, partly because I felt like it overplayed its hand.  The Boxtrolls is less overt horror, but what it does have lingers with you.

Fair warning, I would seriously reconsider taking any child under the age of seven to see this movie.

The good people of Cheesebridge have been living under the threat of monsters in their midst.  Boxtrolls are slithery creatures who come out at night to snatch unwary children.  They know this is true because of the oft-repeated cautionary tale of the Trubshaw baby who was stolen and presumably eaten.  That is until the town leader's daughter, the intrepid Winnie (Elle Fanning), sees a boy out amongst the Boxtrolls and starts to wonder.  Eggs (Isaac Hempstead Wright) has been raised by the Boxtrolls, but is troubled by the disappearances of many of his friends, orchestrated by Archibald Snatcher (Ben Kingsley) and his squad of exterminators.  Snatcher has wrangled a promise of a prestigious white hat from Winnie's father, Lord Portley-Rind (Jared Harris), upon proof that every last Boxtroll has been eliminated.  The hat would allow him entrance into that rarefied echelon of cheese tasting only populated by the upper crust.  He is not about to let his future be derailed by a little girl in pigtails or a boy wearing a box.  Winnie and Eggs must somehow save the Boxtrolls and sway public opinion about them as well.

There is a thread on the IMDb message board describing this movie as a kids version of the Holocaust, and while I think that is an exaggeration, there is no denying the dark themes present here.  The Boxtrolls are persecuted, imprisoned, and forced to labor on a machine meant to cause their destruction.  Eggs deals with attempting to straddle two worlds, ultimately trying to decide who he is and who he wants to be, while Winnie struggles with having a father who would rather taste cheese than acknowledge her.

I'm clearly a fan of their process, but I don't have nor particularly like children.  Your tolerance may be lower.  Bear that in mind before heading off to the theater with your tots.