Coraline moves into an old house with her mother and father. On the ground floor of the house, two retired theatric performers own a flat. They are Miss Forcible and Miss Spink, and they have a lot of terriers. In the flat above Coraline’s, lives a strange old man who is trying to make a mouse circus. Coraline goes exploring and sees animals, including a black cat who watches her. At home, she does not have much to do. Her parents are often busy and distant from Coraline. She finds a locked door in the drawing-room and uses a black key to open the door. The door opens to a brick wall. Her mother says this used to connect to the other side when the house was one house. Now, there is just an empty flat on the other side. That night Coraline hears a noise and goes into the drawing-room to find the door to the brick wall slightly ajar. Upon inspection, Coraline sees just a red brick wall. She closes the door and goes back to bed. Coraline has a dream of voices that make her uncomfortable. Coraline wakes up and runs into the odd old man who says his mice have a message for Coraline. The message is that Coraline should not go through the door. Coraline does not know what to make of this, and her dad but he is too busy to talk with her. Coraline goes to visit Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, who read her tea lives and tell her she is in danger. They give her a rock with a hole in the middle which is allegedly protective. While Coraline's mom is out grocery shopping, Coraline opens the door in the drawing-room. The bricks are gone and instead, there is a passageway. Coraline goes through the passageway and enters a place that is a parody of her house. She is greeted by two people who are resemblant to her mother and father. They are her Other Mother and Other Father and have buttons for the eyes. Everything is similar but not the same. She sees the odd man from upstairs, who also has button eyes. Coraline finds the black cat from her world, who speaks and tells her it was good she brought protection. Her Other Parents inform her that if she wishes to stay she could have all she pleases — All she needs to do is get buttons sewn onto her eyes. Coraline says no and goes home. Once home, Coraline’s parents are missing. After over a day of her parents being missing, Coraline awakens in the middle of the night by the black cat. The cat leads Coraline to a mirror in the hall where Coraline sees the reflection of her parents. Coraline calls the police but they do not believe her. She goes back to the Other Mother’s world. Coraline accuses the Other Mother of stealing her parents. Coraline’s mom tells Coraline that her parents were simply bored of her. The Other Mother secretly instructs a rat to take the key from Coraline’s real flat to lock the door. The next day, Coraline refuses to act like a loving daughter and the Other Mother locks her in the mirror. There, Coraline meets dead children trapped in the mirror who cannot be freed without their souls. Coraline makes a deal with the Other Mother: If she can find the three lost souls and her parents, then she will be allowed to return home. If she cannot, Coraline with stay with the Other Mother and have buttons sewn onto her eyes. Coraline uses the stone Miss Fink and Miss Spink gave her to detect souls in the room. She learns that the Other Mother cannot create anything new, but simply recreate and rearrange the existing world. Coraline realizes her true family does not have a snow globe on the mantlepiece, so this must be where her parents are imprisoned. Coraline tells the Other Mother that she thinks her parents are hidden in the passageway. Coraline’s Other Mother unlocks the door to prove that they are not there. Coraline throws the black cat at the Other Mother, grabs the snow globe and rushes out the passageway. The world is again normal and Coraline’s parents are there. But that night Coraline dreams of spirits who warn her that the trouble is not over. She discovers that the hand of the Other Mother has managed to come into Coraline’s world in search of the key. Coraline manages to trick the hand into falling down a well, ensuring her safety.