magic

Relatively well reviewed, and I don’t understand why. “A love letter to Hollywood’s golden era”, perhaps, but only for its first half; once the talkies arrive it decamps to fifties sci-fi and a save-the-world blob plot. The references are real enough (Muybridge’s horse, Keaton’s collapsing house front, some Lovecraft) but recognising one isn’t the same as the film doing anything with it. And the voice work is mostly phoned in. Not Jesse Eisenberg, who does well as a robot who appears for no reason. Trey Parker just does Cartman, in a children’s film, because nobody seems to have asked him not to.

My son’s first Miyazaki, and—with apologies to everyone who’s been telling me for twenty-odd years—mine too. Enjoyed the unhurriedness: no villain, no ticking clock, no third-act lesson, just Chihiro earning her courage by the minute. Watching it with an eight-year-old turned out to be the antidote to arriving at canon late, burdened by other people’s readings. The boy had no readings, just a quiet “wow” at the train across the water. Now we have the rest of the shelf to work through.

Watched on Tuesday March 17, 2026.