Film Review: The Red Turtle (2016/17)

The Red Turtle is an animated movie co-produced by arguably the greatest animation studios of all time, Studio Ghibli. On the face of it, The Red Turtle is a simple movie about a man stranded on an island in pursuit of an escape who meets a red turtle. Read my review…

The first and the most obvious thing to notice about The Red Turtle is that it is a gorgeously animated (2D), just like every other Studio Ghibli movie. They are the masters of this art form and are once again at the top of their game with this movie. See for yourself, check out the trailer below.

This is a movie without any dialogue at all. It takes the ‘show, don’t tell’ idea to its maximum with pure visual storytelling. I am a big fan of this and Michael Dudok de Wit, the director, does a fantastic job. The story is conveyed entirely through the emotions that the stranded man goes through as we are taken on a journey through the twists and turns in the story. I did, however, find it a little hard to connect with the characters at times due to the lack of dialogue. I am unsure of whether that was because of the creators or because of me not being used to such a form of storytelling. But again, this was only a couple of time during the movie when I found certain story beats to be a little unexplained.

Beyond the surface level story of the movie, I was also really fascinated by the deeper layers within the story. The Red Turtle has a lot to say about nature as a whole and the circle of life associated with it.

Overall, The Red Turtle is a gorgeously animated and beautifully directed movie that is extremely emotionally moving but very gentle at the same time. It is a movie for all ages. I have always detested the view that ‘animation is for children’ or that ‘animation is a lower form of filmmaking’. This is yet another example to prove those two statements wrong.

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My Score: 4/5 – An Oscar-nominated movie that deserves to be seen on the big screen.

The Red Turtle has been out for a while in many parts of the world including North America. If you’ve seen it already, let me know what you thought. Leave a comment below or find me on Facebook and Twitter.

Here in the UK, The Red Turtle opens this weekend. Be sure to let me know what you think if you happen to watch it.

Stay Awesome!