I Am Frankelda: Dazzling, but uneven

I Am Frankelda (2025) • View trailer3.5 stars (out of five); rated PG, for dramatic intensity, scary images and fantasy violenceAvailable via: NetflixBy Derrick BangThe imagination, craft and world-building in this fantasy — Mexico’s very first stop-motion animated feature — are off the chart. I wish similar attention had been paid to the story. After allowing her conscious self to be transported to Topus Terrentus (the Realm ofTerrors), Frankelda hopes that her lurid imagination will be enough to savePrince Herneval's realm.Even so, brothers Arturo and Roy Ambriz, who share writing and directing chores, have orchestrated a dazzling saga that plays on the (supposedly) thin line that separates reality from fantasy, truth from fiction. Neither can exist without the other.The narrative is laden with 19th century Mexican culture, Day of the Dead folklore, creation myths and visual nods to the unsettling paintings of Leonora Carrington and Remedios Varo. Art fans also will smile at the…