LILO & STITCH is a film about an alien monster designed in a laboratory as a weapon of mass destruction. However, because he appears to be uncontrollable, his creators banish him to Earth, where he is adopted by a family consisting of two orphaned sisters: one a nearly adult teenager and the other a young girl rejected by her schoolmates. Stitch, who appears menacing, tries to charm the younger sister by resembling a blue dog. Although he manages to live with them, his lethal weapon nature constantly betrays him, to the point of triggering an intergalactic crisis. The film has a first version released in 2002 and a second, with the same story but using different audiovisual techniques, released in 2025. Despite the passage of time, the new film continues to enjoy a massive audience. What is the source of its magnetism? Why do audiences enjoy monster movies? What makes this film not a horror film, but rather a very heartwarming one that the whole family can enjoy? Is there any benefit to watching this film? Does it benefit you in any way?

So, why do people go to see monster movies? Why do they watch LILO & STITCH? They watch them because these films allow them to acknowledge that part of themselves that society has forced them to hide and tame, as if it were a wild beast. And in the solitude of the movie theater, when no one is watching, they can look it in the face and know that even though it horrifies them too, in the theater the beast is harmless to them and to the world. Something similar happens with Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, in which a scientist splits into two, becoming his monstrous version. When reading it, the audience is horrified but also recognizes themselves in the monster, identifies with it, and even feels free, which gives them pleasure. In the case of film, the moviegoer feels free, and that's why they overcome the terror and retain the freedom to unleash their inner monster. And don't feel bad if you think we're telling you here that you're a Tasmanian devil disguised as a good citizen, because even if you are, the important thing is that thanks to fiction you can play at being the monster you always hide without any consequences to regret. That freedom justifies the existence of certain types of monster movies, which is why they never lose their relevance, why viewers keep watching LILO & STITCH, even though they know how it ends, even though it's a story already told, because they saw it twenty years ago and they watch it again because the experience of being free like Stitch justifies everything.

Comparing LILO & STITCH, the 2025 version, with a horror classic like THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE makes sense because they both share a basic premise: the duality of being, the one Poly was talking about, Eros and Thanatos, creation and destruction, all in one, together at once. So what makes LILO & STITCH a film the whole family can enjoy? Well, Stitch's transgressions against the established order, so to speak, fall into the realm of mischief, but when combined, they cause his entire world to crumble. Of course, beyond the screenwriters' work, there's a whole lot of work done by the character designers, who create a monster that, despite having sharp, pointed teeth, has large eyes with long eyelashes, a prominent head, and a short body, almost like a baby. This gives the alien an appearance closer to that of a plush toy and far removed from that of a planet destroyer. This duality, which ranges from the conceptual to the aesthetic, enriches the film with its complexity and makes it appealing to all audiences.

So, is there any point in watching LILO & STITCH? Well, I'd say yes. Besides the obvious reason of watching it because it's funny, the movie teaches self-acceptance—that is, knowing you're imperfect and recognizing that we can all be better people, whatever that means. But it also teaches you to forgive others and to forgive yourself. And that's good because harsh punishment is cruel and pointless, especially when it involves children and beings still developing, like Stitch, the alien. That's why, in a span of more than 20 years, between the release of the first version and the second, the 2025 version, when people revisit this story, it seems to the audience as if it were being told for the first time. It deals with ideas essential for survival, such as forgiveness, learning, family, and above all, the monster that hides behind each person's face, which society tries to tame, but which, for the good of all, cinema allows to surface while the film is playing and then locks back in when the lights go down. Therefore, and to conclude, remember that cinema is... seosurfer The best medicine for the soul is that the "alien" inside you craves the darkness of the projection room to feel free and not go crazy locked up, and without that option, it will look for ways to vent and then perhaps you will suffer the consequences of some unwanted mischief; in fact, I think it has already happened to you once, right?