Nicolás Medina Montevideo Portal / Latido Beat Aug 17, 2026 10/10

Like any good trip, it's not about reaching your destination, but about seeing the world through new eyes when you return. [Full review in Spanish]

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Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Feb 13, 2026 4/4

Creative beyond all reason or expectation, this deserving winner of the Best Animated Feature Oscar is a phenomenal achievement.

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Calum Baker Radio Times Apr 1, 2025 5/5

Aided by fine sound design and an exemplary musical score from regular Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi, the film boasts the detail and visual scale that mark Miyazaki's inimitable style. Simply perfect, from beginning to end.

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Justin Kim Loud and Clear Reviews Jan 6, 2025 5/5

With an overall presentation that truly elevates it beyond a film and into an experience, Spirited Away earns its status as Hayao Miyazaki ’s magnum opus.

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Calum Cooper Cinerama Film Dec 30, 2024 5/5

Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away is perhaps the greatest of all animated movies. It’s bizarre yet beautiful, creepy yet whimsical, and chock full of rich themes and unforgettable characters and imagery. It is a bona fide masterpiece.

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Sukanya Verma Rediff.com Aug 27, 2024

10-year-old Chihiro's adventurous coming-of-age journey as she conquers her fears and makes new friends against Spirited Away's dazzling animation is as delightful as it gets.

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Paul Emmanuel Enicola The Asian Cut Jul 31, 2024

It’s a testament to a passionate filmmaker whose voice transcends the medium, elevating animation to the realm of art. It’s also, in this critic’s opinion, Hayao Miyazaki’s undeniable masterpiece.

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Jeffrey Peterson The Streamr Jan 2, 2024

Spirited Away reminds me of how our friends, our work family, or the people we pass by in life can become more familial than our blood relations.

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Carla Monfort Espinof Oct 2, 2023 5/5

Spirited Away is one of those films that you have to see at least once in your life: a milestone in animation that shines both in form and substance. [Full review in Spanish]

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Jordan Brooks Vague Visages Aug 1, 2023

A careful reframing of the typical coming-of-age narrative, Spirited Away displays a fondness those infinitely awkward years, while showing us all how important they were in making us who we are today.

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Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review Jul 31, 2023 4/4

As with every Miyazaki picture, Spirited Away wants to at once amaze and familiarize you with an impossible dream, but it remains unique within his oeuvre for cementing that narrative desire into the essential groundwork of the story.

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Kathryn Greenaway Montreal Gazette Jul 17, 2023 5/5

Listen to Miyazaki's message. Be good. Be strong. Then sit back and bask in his brilliance.

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Rick Bentley Fresno Bee Jul 17, 2023 B

Visually, this is a magnificent example of Japanese animation. The story is another matter. At times, the shifting plot is almost too complex for explanation.

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Malcolm L. Johnson Hartford Courant Jul 17, 2023 3.5/4

This is an animated film of graphic splendor, with its realistic, often painterly backgrounds and characters who are as fanciful as the Wild Things of Maurice Sendak.

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Leigh-Ann Jackson Austin American-Statesman Jul 17, 2023 4/4

In Miyazaki's hands, mundane actions like pulling a lever or pouring a cup of tea become beautiful endeavors.

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Eleanor O'Sullivan Asbury Park Press (NJ) Jul 17, 2023 3/4

Spirited Away has all the hallmarks of great Japanese design and there are many, many moments of wit and breathtaking beauty.

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Sukhdev Sandhu Daily Telegraph (UK) Jul 17, 2023

The film is strewn with casual poetry. Its colors, often blue and green, are muted and weak, like a tear-spattered love letter.

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Jeet Heer National Post Jul 17, 2023 3.5/4

All in all, Spirited Away is a better animated feature film than anything to come out of Disney in the last 50 years.

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Scott Von Doviak Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com Jul 17, 2023 3.5/5

Spirited Away is no secondhand fairytale retread; it's a fully imagined universe, populated by wondrous beings and haunting landscapes.

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Kris Meen Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Alberta) Jul 17, 2023

Spirited away is so visually imaginative that it bears its thematic burden without ever seeming weighed down by it.

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