I caught this one on an opening weekend Saturday matinee at a pretty full theater, which isn’t too surprising considering that the film is set here in Portland and they’ve been promoting the film with bird statues all over the city for months. Since moving here last January this is the most heavily attended film that I’ve seen in this Regal Theater (whereas films that I’ve seen at the independent Cinema 21 have generally been completely full auditoriums). 

I heard that the director wanted this to be a stop-motion Lord of the Rings, partly set in contemporary Portland (Oregon) and I think they hit the mark. Let’s just say that this film is so beautiful and so detailed that I feel like I need to see it in the theater at least one more time, to really feeling like I experienced this film. The next thought is that I can’t believe that this entire film was done using stop-motion photography and minimal CGI. They’re so proud of that fact that they labeled the film in the credits as “made by hand in Portland, Oregon.” And as great as all of this is, it doesn’t overshadow this fantasy coming of age story which asks, how far would you go for those that you love?

Another couple film factoids: it has taken the director 17-years to go from the reading the book to completion of the movie, with the two young voice actors having recorded their dialogue five years ago. I love the story, I love that the action starts from the get-go, I love all of the story layers, I love the nerd story arch, and the female hero’s journey. The protagonist kept saying that she stopped believing in magic years ago, to which the other characters would respond, “and yet here we are,” with talking animals and mystics and the like. Love that line. Don’t wait for this to come to a steaming platform. Get off of your butt and enjoy this in a local theater (they really could use your business). JBB

Here’s some behind-the-scenes shorts:

[Movie viewed at Fox Tower Regal on 2026-10-24]

Sources:

Tags: 2026 movies, fantasy, Portland OR, stop-motion animation, video Mondays

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