Suzume no tojimari (2022)

Suzume (2022) is a modern action-adventure road story in animated form that follows 17-year-old Suzume, a quiet girl from Kyushu whose life is upended when she meets a mysterious young man on a journey “looking for doors.” Drawn to a lone, undisturbed door in a ruined mountain building, Suzume accidentally triggers a cascade: doors across Japan begin opening, each one releasing calamities from the other side. With the world at risk, she joins the young man to find and close those doors before disaster spills into everyday life. The film mixes brisk, tense moments of supernatural peril with quiet, intimate scenes of a coming-of-age journey. Suzume’s travels take her through landscapes where time and light feel surreal—skies that seem to hold sunset, stars, and morning at once—giving the story a dreamlike, melancholic beauty. As the pair race to shut out the calamities, the plot explores themes of loss, healing, and connection, balancing spectacular set pieces with gentle character development. What viewers will experience: vivid, immersive animation and landscapes that linger in the memory; a blend of action and reflective, emotional beats; moments of suspense and wonder; and a bittersweet, hopeful tone that lingers after the credits. Fans of thoughtful animated adventures and emotionally rich storytelling will find Suzume both thrilling and quietly moving.

Actors: Nanoka Hara, Hokuto Matsumura, Eri Fukatsu

Director: Makoto Shinkai

Genre: Animation

77 /100 7.6 /10 7.7 /10