Film Review – Mirai

“Mirai” is presented as a fantasy, but it contains an enormous amount of authentic human behavior. It’s the latest work from writer/director Mamoru Hosoda, who takes a long look at the ways families interact, especially from the perspective of a child who’s not ready to watch his small world expand with the addition of a baby sibling into his life. Hosoda eventually launches a bizarre tale of time travel to help give the material something more to do than live in the moment, but “Mirai” is more skilled with understanding, and animating, young behavior at its most feral and unbreakable. The strange magic of the movie has its appeal, with Hosoda generating his own take on a genealogical dig, but the feature really captures something unique when it concentrates on pure reaction from children, showing remarkable awareness of frustrations and fears as attention suddenly splits to siblings in need. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com