10 Great Movies You Didn't Know Had A Hidden Symbolic Meaning

7. Child Abduction And Mind Control Programming - Coraline

Anyone who has seen Coraline is in little doubt that there's a dark undercurrent running throughout the movie - the tale of a young girl moving to a remote house with her parents and seemingly escaping into a fantasy realm is full of macabre moments, as you'd expect from a film which takes Neil Gaiman as its source material. But one symbolic reading of Coraline takes us into much darker territory, interpreting her escape into fantasy lands as a metaphor for child abduction and mind control programming. The Other World which Coraline enters is a sinister place full of appealing treats designed to entrap her just as a child abductor seeks to entice children away with promises of sweets and presents. Other symbols dotted throughout the movie suggest a link to the occult, with goats heads mounted on the walls, dowsing rods and a garden in the shape of Beldam - a hag or witch - contributing to the esoteric symbolism. Produced by Focus Pictures, Coraline isn't the only example of their animated productions drawing upon occult and esoteric symbolism - their following movie 9 also drew heavily on hidden symbolism found in a number of secret societies and esoteric alchemy.