THE HOUSE is an unexpected, twisted delight and is unlikely to be unseated as the most striking animated feature of 2022 until ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE arrives towards the end of the year. This is an anthology of stories revolving around the various residents of an uncanny, vaguely sinister dwelling across three time periods and realities. One tale follows a poor Victorian family gifted the house by a sinister benefactor; the next an aspiring developer has to fight an infestation in order to sell the house; and finally an optimistic landlord attempts to run it as a boarding house in a flooded end of the world. All chapters utilise stop-motion to realise very differently designed groups of characters, from tiny-faced doll-people to giant beetles masquerading as rats (it makes sense in context). All the film’s stories have a moral to them, Roald Dahl-esque dark fables full of gallows humour, mischief and memorable visual flourishes. SSP