It will disturb you as much as thrill you, make you wonder whether the boundaries between life and death, reality and fantasy, imagination and insanity are ever what they appear to be.
Spirited Away(千と千尋の神隠し)
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Japan · 2001
Rated PG · 2h 5m
Director Hayao Miyazaki
Starring Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino, Mari Natsuki, Bunta Sugawara
Genre Animation, Family, Fantasy
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
Ten-year-old Chihiro does not want to move to the Japanese countryside. On their way to their new home, she and her parents become trapped in a strange world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
TV Guide Magazine by Frank Lovece
Serenely stunning.
A very nutty fruitcake, Spirited Away is characterized by wonderfully detailed animation, packed with incident and populated by all manner of comic creatures.
New York Daily News by Jack Mathews
Turns everything we know about the contemporary world on its head, and substitutes it with one in which spirits, monsters, magicians and animals mix it up in a carnival of energy, good humor and freewheeling illusion.
Charlotte Observer by Lawrence Toppman
Yet its visual surrealism, identity-bending and strong social/ecological message make it as much an allegory as a fable.
A Japanese cross between "Alice in Wonderland" and "The Wizard of Oz" -- is such a landmark in animation that labeling it a masterpiece almost seems inadequate.
New Times (L.A.) by Luke Y. Thompson
Probably like nothing you've ever seen before. In a cool world, it would be guaranteed not only the Best Animated Feature Oscar, but Best Picture as well.
Baltimore Sun by Michael Sragow
A visual masterpiece about a scared little girl's breathtaking journey of self-discovery. All of the fun is getting there.
Chicago Tribune by Michael Wilmington
It's a movie full of bewitching images and timeless fun and beauty.
Philadelphia Inquirer by Steven Rea
Wondrously strange and just plain wonderful.
Users who liked this film also liked
Princess Mononoke
(もののけ姫)
The fate of the world rests on the courage of one warrior.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1997
- Director Hayao Miyazaki
- Cast Yōji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yūko Tanaka, Kaoru Kobayashi, Masahiko Nishimura, Tsunehiko Kamijô
- Genre Adventure, Animation, Fantasy
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
City of God
(Cidade de Deus)
Three young men embark on different yet intertwined paths as they try to survive in the dangerous favelas of Rio.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Brazil, France • 2002
- Director Fernando Meirelles
- Cast Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Phellipe Haagensen, Douglas Silva, Jonathan Haagensen, Matheus Nachtergaele
- Genre Drama, Crime
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand
Life Is Beautiful
(La vita è bella)
An unforgettable fable that proves love, family and imagination can conquer all.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 1997
- Director Roberto Benigni
- Cast Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giorgio Cantarini, Giustino Durano, Amerigo Fontani, Sergio Bini Bustric
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
Howl's Moving Castle
(ハウルの動く城)
A young woman cursed with old age seeks the help of an insecure magician and his companions, who live in a moving castle.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2004
- Director Hayao Miyazaki
- Cast Chieko Baisho, Takuya Kimura, Akihiro Miwa, Tatsuya Gashūin, Ryunosuke Kamiki
- Genre Fantasy, Animation, Adventure
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
My Neighbor Totoro
(となりのトトロ)
Sisters and spirits come together in this magical tale.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1988
- Director Hayao Miyazaki
- Cast Noriko Hidaka, Hitoshi Takagi, Chika Sakamoto, Shigesato Itoi, Sumi Shimamoto, Tanie Kitabayashi
- Genre Animation, Family, Fantasy
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Plex
Castle in the Sky
(天空の城ラピュタ)
Two kids race to find a lost civilization and keep a magic crystal out of the wrong hands.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1986
- Director Hayao Miyazaki
- Cast Keiko Yokozawa, Mayumi Tanaka, Minori Terada, Kotoe Hatsui, Fujio Tokita, Ichirō Nagai
- Genre Adventure, Fantasy, Animation, Action, Family, Romance
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Plex
Porco Rosso
(紅の豚)
When pigs fly...
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1992
- Director Hayao Miyazaki
- Cast Shûichirô Moriyama, Tokiko Katô, Sanshi Katsura, Tsunehiko Kamijô, Akemi Okamura, Akio Otsuka
- Genre Comedy, Animation, Adventure
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Ponyo
(崖の上のポニョ)
A fish makes herself human to return to a boy on land, but she must fix the disastrous consequences of her magic.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2008
- Director Hayao Miyazaki
- Cast Yuria Nara, Hiroki Doi, George Tokoro, Tomoko Yamaguchi, Yuki Amami, Kazushige Nagashima
- Genre Animation, Family
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Plex
Grave of the Fireflies
(火垂るの墓)
Can these two siblings beat the odds?
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1988
- Director Isao Takahata
- Cast Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Yoshiko Shinohara, Akemi Yamaguchi
- Genre Animation, Drama, War
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
The Cat Returns
(猫の恩返し)
After Haru, a bored schoolgirl, saves the life of an unusual cat, her world is transformed beyond anything she ever imagined.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2002
- Director Hiroyuki Morita
- Cast Chizuru Ikewaki, Yoshihiko Hakamada, Aki Maeda, Takayuki Yamada, Hitomi Satô, Kenta Satoi
- Genre Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Fantasy
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Kiki's Delivery Service
(魔女の宅急便)
A young witch goes on fantastic adventures as she runs her own delivery service.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1989
- Director Hayao Miyazaki
- Cast Minami Takayama, Rei Sakuma, Kappei Yamaguchi, Keiko Toda, Mieko Nobusawa, Kôichi Miura
- Genre Animation, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Family
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store
Whisperer of the Heart
(耳をすませば)
Shizuki lives a simple life, dominated by her love of stories and writing, until one day she meets her “Prince of Books.”
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1995
- Director Yoshifumi Kondou
- Cast Yoko Honna, Issey Takahashi, Takashi Tachibana, Shigeru Muroi, Shigeru Tsuyuguchi, Keiju Kobayashi
- Genre Animation, Drama, Family
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
The Secret World of Arrietty
(借りぐらしのアリエッティ)
Do not be seen by humans. That's been the law of children of the underfloor.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2010
- Director Hiromasa Yonebayashi
- Cast Mirai Shida, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Tomokazu Miura, Keiko Takeshita, Kirin Kiki, Shinobu Ōtake
- Genre Fantasy, Animation, Family
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
The Wind Rises
(風立ちぬ)
We must live.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2013
- Director Hayao Miyazaki
- Cast Hideaki Anno, Miori Takimoto, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Masahiko Nishimura, Stephen Alpert, Morio Kazama
- Genre Animation
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Your Name.
(君の名は。)
High schoolers Mitsuha and Taki are complete strangers living separate lives. But one night, they suddenly switch places.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2016
- Director Makoto Shinkai
- Cast Ryunosuke Kamiki, Mone Kamishiraishi, Masami Nagasawa, Etsuko Ichihara, Ryou Narita, Aoi Yuki
- Genre Animation, Drama, Romance
- Available on Crunchyroll, Crunchyroll Amazon Channel, Apple TV
Parasite
(기생충)
A poor family lies and schemes their way into the employ of a wealthy household — successfully, but with great consequences.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2019
- Director Bong Joon-ho
- Cast Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-shik, Park So-dam, Chang Hyae-jin
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Thriller
- Available on Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand
One of the most beautiful and moving movies about coming of age and girlhood I've seen—not just for kids, this film is like a piece of art!
If you made me choose, I would say that this is my favorite Studio Ghibli film. It has some of the most stunning animated visuals you’ll ever see, and its story about the often painful but essential journey of growing up and growing into yourself always stays with me.
I waited far too long to watch this film for the first time; do not make the same mistake as me! The world is so lucky to have Miyazaki and his art in it. His films' themes and messages are evergreen, and all audiences can enjoy them. If you are curious about his movies or watching more animation in general, this is a great place to start.