Suzume

Movie review

If you are YOUR NAME fan you will definitely love Director Makoto Shinkai’s latest movie SUZUME. The movie is titled based on the main character Suzume Iwato, a 17-year-old high school student who one day meets a handsome young man asking for ruins on her way to school and gets trapped in the cosmic interplay.

The 122 minutes long animated feature starts in 2011 when Tohoku gets hit by a tsunami, Suzume is still healing from the loss of her dead mother when she meets Souta, a closer, who closes does from Ever-After to protect Japan from disasters of a red burning worm.

Suzume finds one such door and opens it and get intrigued by the beauty of other side. Little does she know this will result in a big cosmic complication. Suzume with a talking chair (Souta trapped in it) is forced to travel across Japan to close such doors and protect the populated cities from earthquakes.

When I first saw the film, I felt that subtle knot to Studio Ghibli, the animation is beautifully done. This movie is an experience. The plot seems a little repetitive with Suzume going to locations and closing the doors but we get Souta stuck in a three-legged kid’s chair and a cute social media favorite cat Daijin, who speaks human language and guides Souta and Suzume to the opened doors. By the time film comes to an end, we see a bigger picture, personal grief, and healing of Suzume.

Shinkai’s work always provides us with this pleasant yet heart aching experience. The movie is filled with magical visuals and soul soothing music. It is an adventure story of Suzume and Souta. The movie hits hard in the right places, might even make you cry in the second half.