A decade after "The Wind Rises," animation maestro Hayao Miyazaki is back with another ambitious work from Studio Ghibli, also one of his most personal. Set during World War II, "The Boy and the Heron" is the story of Mahito, a boy who, shortly after losing his mother in a fire, moves with his father to the Japanese countryside, where he must adapt to a new life with his new stepmother, Natsuko, his mother's sister. Leading a solitary life, Mahito explores the surroundings of his new home, where he is soon drawn into a magical world by the presence of a mysterious heron. What follows is a tale even more rooted in surrealism than "Spirited Away" (which is saying a lot), in which Miyazaki explores so many ideas and opens so many doors that, at times, it may seem challenging to follow (or understand what he means by saying the film has autobiographical tones). It's the director's extravagance in its most radical and pure state, so perhaps not the best film to approach him with. However, for his fans, it will be another authentic delight to see the level of detail, ambition, and care in his animation, so tangible that it allows you to feel the consistency of a bed or the realistic movement of a liquid, all in service of a story that, despite its most hallucinatory elements, never loses sight of emotion.
After the terror of A Quiet Place, John Krasinski leaps into a new genre as director with IF. The story follows a young girl (The Walking Dead's Cailey Fleming) who, while still dealing with her mother's death, must face her dad's (Krasinski) risky heart surgery. At her grandmother's house (Fiona Shaw), she discovers a group of strange imaginary creatures that need her help, as only she and a mysterious man (Ryan Reynolds) can see them, and together they embark on a mission to return them to the children who imagined them. It's a tender fantasy that seems to be for the whole family, but sometimes gets so tangled in its internal logic that it seems aimed at a more adult audience. However, behind everything, its message about connecting with imagination and never losing the capacity for wonder we have as children, manages to come through. At the very least, we appreciate that it is much more imaginative than anything the big film franchises have to offer today.
Sketch is a children's production from Angel Studios—the same studio behind Sound of Freedom and other religious-themed productions. Here, however, the focus is on a more family-friendly, children's film, with an air of adventure, about a family in mourning. The mother has died, the father is lost, and the two children deal with the loss in different ways. The boy doesn't talk about it; the girl draws angry drawings in her notebook. And it's precisely this notebook that injects the plot with a fantastical tone. With a touch of films like Jumanji, Zathura, Inkheart, and even The Goonies, the feature film magically brings these creatures to life, stalking the family. It's a light, friendly, and fun story, without any major daring or moments of creativity. It works well as a family adventure, within a very functional little box, and shows that Angel Studios can soar to new heights when it wants to.