Movie Review: Look Back

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

An excellent animated film from Japan. 

This movie tells the story of two young girls. One of them is incredibly shy and hates to leave her house and the other spends all her time drawing to the point where she alienates her friends. However, they bond over a love of drawing manga and become close friends and collaborators. 

This movie works because it is so earnest in its emotional honesty. There is not a moment here that rings false. It taps into a part of ourselves that we try not to show. Anyone who has ever felt insecure will have a strong emotional connection to this film. As one of the girls is simply concerned that she isn't good enough and doubts her own talents or as the other becomes incredibly shy and uncomfortable around people, it is hard not to see more than a little of ourselves. Yet this movie is not about feeling hopeless and insecure. It is about finding joy and comfort in friendship and art. This film fully expresses how both of these things can easily make us forget our pain and insecurities for a little bit as well as the importance of this escape. Because we connect so much with these characters when the film takes a sharp turn in the last act, it hits us hard emotionally. This is an incredibly effective tear jerking that truly moved me deeply. Yet at the same time it is a movie that also features moments of great joy as well as some great comedic moments (the opening sequence made everyone in the theatre laugh out loud). 

The only major problem with this film though is its runtime. This movie only runs about an hour. Normally I am a fan of movies with really short runtimes. However, this film could have benefited by being longer. Many scenes feel rushed and like they could use more fleshing out. I especially wish we could have seen these two grow closer more gradually, rather than have them suddenly be best friends. 

This is a lovely film.