Review: 'Mirai' Beautifully Blends the Past, Present, and Future

Time can often feel cruel and unfair. Whether you like it or not, time always progresses with a cold, calculated precision. It can be daunting to imagine one's future, or even properly remember the past. But under the watchful eye of writer and director Mamoru Hosoda, Mirai is a film that beautifully bends and plays with the concept of time to convey the inherent sense of wonder, hope, and even love hidden within time's once-concrete construct.

Mirai follows the 4-year-old Kun, who suddenly realizes he's not the center of his parent's attention anymore when they bring home his baby sister, Mirai. Overcome with complicated new emotions he doesn't quite yet understand coupled with parents who are just trying to deal with raising two children while living their adult lives, Kun eventually finds refuge in his backyard, but he's not alone. He soon finds that it's connecting him with an older Mirai, who's come from the future.

Mirai is an absolutely sublime experience. Hosoda's works have become known for their gorgeous animation, and the same is true for this film. Characters feel weighted, yet move with an affectionate bounciness that properly conveys the motions of a young child that's Kun's age. It's especially important for the film to nail the visual aspects of Kun, as there can be challenges with focusing a narrative on such a young protagonist. But with such an accomplished presentation, it's incredibly easy to gel right into Kun's thoughts and actions.

You might not think you would see eye-to-eye with a 4-year-old kid, but Mirai makes it possible. Strong animation cannot support a film on its own, so thankfully this film has substance to back up all of its grandeur. Like Hosoda's past works, Mirai is steeped in magical realism in which the mythical elements of dream-like worlds juxtapose a grounded, emotional narrative. The heart of the film never strays far from how Kun is feeling.

Having such a young protagonist also frees Mirai from needing to have overt conversations about feelings, and instead allows the audience to explore the primal nature of youth. This freedom enhances the sense of wonder, and thus makes for an increasingly intimate experience. It's also helped by how well-rounded each of the family members are.

Mirai is an exploration of what happens to a nuclear family when a new entity is introduced to the equation, and it takes its time to flesh out each of the character's perspectives. The father is trying his best to make up for a lack of time spent with Kun as a baby, the mother wants to go back to work, and even the family dog reveals that he feels the same way as Kun does. Each of these stories feels like it comes from a real place thanks to the strong writing throughout.

Time travel may seem like a gimmicky way to enhance a narrative, but it ties into that intimate, primal dissection of youth. As Kun travels to different points in time, he's treated with a new perspective that he would have never realized until he had gotten much older. And naturally, as Kun evolves his outlook, everyone else's does as well.

Kun's coping mechanisms are handled in such a loving way that Mirai refuses to falter even when the film's admittedly offbeat (and even off-putting in some areas) third act climax kicks in. Serving as a deft reminder that childhood imagination can often carry darker elements, the film's final challenge to both Kun and the audience will have you rethink how you cope with change.

Mirai proves that time, like love, is an ethereal force binding all of humanity together. But rather than the cold, constantly morphing nature of the beast, there is an inherent elegance in the connections spanning across generations of love and support.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Mirai is currently on a limited release run in theaters on November 29-30, and December 5 and 8. Both English subtitled and dubbed screenings are available, but schedule and locations may vary.