Stitch Head
October 29th, 2025
MOVIE: STITCH HEAD
STARRING: ASA BUTTERFIELD, JOEL FRY, ALISON STEADMAN, ROB BRYDON
DIRECTED BY: STEVE HUDSON
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 3 STARS (Out of 4)
RATED: PG
RUN TIME: 91 MINUTES
2025 has been a rough year for animation. With Pixar no longer dominating the field, the landscape feels scattered, along with fewer theatrical releases, fewer cultural moments, and, ultimately, fewer reasons for kids to rush to the movies. Until now, my favorite animated film of the year was The Bad Guys 2, but out of nowhere comes the surprisingly charming Stitch Head. It’s a delightful gateway into the world of Universal Monsters, blending the gothic heart of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein with the macabre humor of The Addams Family. It’s the kind of small, easily overlooked animated gem that reminds us how imaginative the medium can be.
Based on the graphic novel by Guy Bass, Stitch Head follows its titular character (voiced by Asa Butterfield), a patchwork creation brought to life by the Mad Scientist (Rob Brydon), who toils away in the looming Castle Grotteskew above the town of Grubbers Nubbin. Stitch isn’t exactly his maker’s proudest experiment, but more of a loyal assistant, tasked with welcoming each new monster to life. He introduces them to their new world with a hilarious instructional video and a ragtag group of fellow creations.
Stitch soon befriends a furry creature named, fittingly, Creature (Joel Fry). While the monsters are content within the castle walls, they’re terrified of the outside world. That changes when a traveling circus, led by the flamboyant Fulbert Freakfinder (Seth Usdenov), arrives in town. When Freakfinder discovers Stitch, he quickly turns him into the circus’s newest sensation. The audiences are thrilled, but only Arabella (Tia Bannon) sees the kind and gentle soul beneath the stitches. Stitch is torn. Stay with the circus that exploits his uniqueness or return to the home that truly accepts him?
At first, Stitch Head feels like a clever, less commercial riff on the Hotel Transylvania series, but director Steve Hudson aims for something more intimate. The film’s quirky animation and eccentric tone recall a mix of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse and Tod Browning’s Freaks. Butterfield brings a touching vulnerability to the soft-spoken Stitch, echoing his performances in Hugo and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. These are characters defined by their loneliness and longing. They’re outsiders searching for love, unaware of how that love might change them.
If the film falters, it’s in the final act, when the story settles into familiar beats and loses some of its spark. Still, Stitch Head remains a hidden gem. It’s the sort of inventive animated film that would typically get buried on streaming. It carries the creative energy Guillermo del Toro championed with Pinocchio, filled with friendly monsters, a mad scientist, a dazzling circus, and a looming castle. It’s heartfelt, funny, and a little spooky, which is everything you could want from a new Halloween classic.
3 STARS
STITCH HEAD COMES OUT IN THEATERS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29TH, 2025.
Written by: Leo Brady
