On the Spoiler Special podcast, Slate critics discuss movies—and the occasional TV show—in full, spoiler-filled detail. Below, our film critic Dana Stevens talks with Movie Mom Nell Minow about The Boxtrolls, Laika Studio’s latest animated feature. How does it measure up to its Laika predecessors, Coraline and ParaNorman? Does the film have transphobic undertones? And how exactly was the film, with its combination of stop-motion and hand-drawn animation, actually made?

Listen to them discuss these and other questions below. You can also check out past Spoiler Specials in our archive, and you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. Note: As the title indicates, each installment contains spoilers galore.

Previous Spoiler Specials
Love Is Strange
Boyhood
Snowpiercer
Lucy
Orange Is the New Black