TL;DR – There is a lot I could say about this film, but the most important thing is that there were times when I became overwhelmed with its beauty.    

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Review –

Oh wow, just wow. I have seen a lot of films in my time, and a lot of animated films, but rarely do they have moments that just take my breath away. Today we get to take a look at a film that does just that by exploring a new world and mythology that might not be as familiar to people.

So to set the scene, we open in on Hina (Nana Mori) as she holds the hand of her mother in the hospital. Outside is nothing but rain, with the weather matching her life at that moment. But out of the corner of her eye, she sees one ray of sunshine and she runs to it. About a year later Hodaka (Kotaro Daigo) arrives by boat to Tokyo, he has run away from home and is looking for a new life in the big city. But life is tough and he ends up on the street where he relents and starts working for Keisuke Suga (Shun Oguri) who runs an occult magazine of dubious quality. However, while working he hears of a girl that can bring the sun, which given that it has already rained for a month is something that a lot of people are interested in.    

To begin with I want to talk about the art of this film because this film is a work of art. The narrative structure of the film revolves around the interplay of rain and sunshine and that gave the artists a real scope to amaze you with their talents. These might be some of the most beautiful clouds that I have ever seen put to film and you get to see nearly every shape, size, and colour of them. As well as this, one area where animation has a leg up over live-action is in how it can add rain and make it look believable. You usually have you dump gallons of water to have it be picked up on camera, here you can create a more realistic vision that pulls you in. This is combined with some of the best folly/sound design work I have seen in a film in a long while. Every drop of water, every step, every gust of wind, it all feels right. This all combines together in moments in the film that overwhelmed me with their sheer beauty and I mean tears rolling down my eyes overwhelmed.

Adding to all this is the worldbuilding which might be the best blend of real world and the mythological that I have seen since maybe My Neighbor Totoro. Their creation of Tokyo is so spot on that I am reasonably sure that I have been to that McDonald’s near Shibuya. Every backdrop is stunningly created and brings you into this world. When the film never explicitly mentions it, it also incorporates a lot of Shinto mythology into the story. This is mythology/religion that is not explored all that often in film so it was interesting to see it used here.

One area that maybe does not reach the same level as the rest of the film is the story. Don’t get me wrong it is still really good, but not the stand out that is the art and other factors. There are a lot of really touching plot threads going throughout the film, building a world that really interesting, however, not all of them have the same mileage. For what is quite a serious film there is a lot of humour throughout. A lot of the time it is really funny, however there are some of those cringe almost creepy moments that have you going … really, did that need to be there. Thankfully there are only a couple of moments of this in the film but it was a pity that they were there. To add to this, while the ending of the film did have the emotional weight to be the right endpoint for such a beautiful film, it did feel like it dragged on a bit too long in places and could have been tightened up.  

In the end, do we recommend Weathering with You? Absolutely. I would recommend this on the art alone, but nearly every other facet of the film is also swinging for the fences. A Truly beautiful film and one I know will stay with me for a long time.       

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you watched Weathering with You?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Weathering with You
Directed by – Makoto Shinkai
Written by – Makoto Shinkai
Music by – Radwimps
Cinematography by – Ryôsuke Tsuda
Edited by – Makoto Shinkai
Production/Distribution Companies – CoMix Wave Films, Story Inc., Toho & Madman
Starring – Kotaro Daigo, Nana Mori, Shun Oguri, Tsubasa Honda, Chieko Baisho, Sakura Kiryū, Sei Hiraizumi, Yūki Kaji, Ayane Sakura & Kana Hanazawa         
Rating – Australia: PG