Coraline is a 2009 stop-motion animated fantasy film starring Dakota Fanning. It is based on a book released in 2002 of the same name by Neil Gaiman. This family movie was perhaps a little too scary for some viewers, and when taking into consideration some theories based on the original source material, it becomes even more frightening. The ending of the film had people asking, "did Coraline make it out of the Other World, or is she trapped there forever?"
Coraline and her family move into the Pink Palace—a run-down house that was boarded off and converted into an apartment building. Coraline's parents seem to always be too busy for her and don't give her the attention or life that she'd like. So when she finds a small door that leads to a magical place where everything is better, she is blind when it comes to realizing that this is too good to be true. Coraline's 'Other Mother' turns out to not be as loving as she thought, and wants to trap Coraline in the Other World forever. Coraline tempts the Other Mother with a game and outsmarts her, barely making it out. Or so she thinks.
To understand the theory, it's important to know what the Other Mother actually is. She is referred to as a 'beldam,' which is a very old malicious woman and a witch. The Other Mother is a shape-shifting demon whose goal is to lure children into the Other World and entice them to stay so she can feed on their souls. She does this by making voodoo dolls that look like the children whom she wishes to capture so she can spy on them and find out what they like. Although she presents herself as Coraline's mother, it doesn't take long for her to reveal herself as a giant arachnid with a cracked porcelain face. This is an important detail, but more on that later.
So did Coraline make it out of the Other World? The answer is no. In fact, she never left at all. In the book, when Coraline meets the ghost children, they tell her that once they saw the beldam, they never saw their true mothers again. Isn't it odd that Coraline has to use the portal door to enter the Other World, but she never goes back through it to leave? This is because this is all a game of cat and mouse. Each time Coraline goes to sleep in the Other World, she is just going one layer deeper into that dimension. When she awakens in the 'real world,' it is just an illusion the beldam crafted. The only way out is through the door, and there is only one key. But at the end of the movie, Coraline has thrown her one way out down a well, and because of that, she will never be able to leave.
Here is where the theory turns a little Lovecraftian. When Coraline is trying to escape the Other World, she notices the tunnel feels longer each time she uses it, and steeper, as if she is climbing upwards. That is because the Other World is actually a very large and very ancient beast. Since Coraline keeps falling asleep in the Other World and using the portal, she is actually just going deeper into the belly of the beast. In the book, Coraline says that the tunnel sounds like it's breathing and when she reaches out her hand, it feels like she's put it in someone's mouth.
What exactly is the beast? It could be a large Mother Rat, using her rat children to help feed her. There is a line in the book when Coraline touches the walls of the portal tunnel where she says it felt fur-like. She also says that whatever it is, is far older than the Other Mother; it's deep, slow, and aware of her presence. On her last attempt to escape, Coraline also feels something scuttled between her feet in the dark, trying to trip her. That sounds like a smaller rat running past her.
Consider this quote from the book: "We are small but we are many. We are many but we are small. We were here before you rose. We will be here when you fall." In the movie, the cat that Coraline befriends also says that the Other Mother hates cats. Is it because the Other Mother is scared of the Rat Beast she is living in and doesn't want to upset it by allowing the cat to run around and kill the rats?
The next part of the theory suggests that the Other Mother used to be human, and when she got trapped in the Other World, she only had her sowing room to hide in. When she realized she was getting old and dying, she used items in her sewing room to keep her looking young (hence the button eyes). But the Other Mother also needs to feed, and a child's soul can keep her sustained for years. Remember her cracked porcelain face? The Other Mother hasn't had a child to feed on for a while and her porcelain face is chipping away. What's more, the Rat Beast is also feeding on the Other Mother's life force. And she is stuck in this world just like Coraline is.
So, Coraline didn't make it out of the Rat Beast limbo world. But she was able to get away from the Other Mother. Without Coraline, the beldam died. This next part is truly terrifying. With the beldam gone, the Rat Beast will need to feed on something else. This theory concludes with the idea that Coraline will now become the next beldam, and she will have to lure in children to feed on. Coraline becoming the next witch was subtly hinted at by her father calling her his "twitchy, witchy girl." There are a ton of other theories about Coraline and the Other World. But this is by far the most terrifying one.