When Marnie Was There

So guys, after six months of doing these Studio Ghibli movie reviews, I'm finishing with the last of them, When Marnie Was There. I know there was some other movie in 2020, but, from what I've been told, it's terrible and I really don't want to check it out. Anyway, this is another film I had heard a bit about before and had heard it was one of the best Ghibli movies ever. I remember even thinking I didn't think it would be anything that special when I first heard about it many, many years ago and didn't know what to really think of it going in. But, having finally seen it last year and, again recently, I can confirm that this is honestly absolutely incredible. I've seen this movie three times already and I absolutely love it. This is honestly tied with Kiki's Delivery Service with being my favourite Studio Ghibli movie. This film is honestly just that phenomenal. I was curious to know how similar or not similar my feelings towards this would be compared to some other YouTubers and I 100% absolutely agree that this movie is amazing. I've loved it so much every time I've seen it. So, let's get to the story and, as always, this will have all the spoilers. So, if you don't want anything spoiled, you should absolutely go see it then come back and read the rest of this. So, the story follows a small girl named Anna who has asthma and is also a person who finds it hard to get along with people and make friends. She's also a foster child and is living with some people who took her in when she was really young. They decide to help her by sending her to stay with their relatives for the summer. She then goes to a town by the sea and she still finds it hard to connect with people while she's there. However, while there, she sees an old marsh house and becomes interested in it and finds a girl there named Marnie and they begin to develop a friendship while also learning more about each other but something weird keeps happening every time she sees her. So, that's really as far as I'll go in terms of the plot, but, if you've seen the film, then you know a lot more happens, and we'll get to that in a minute. For now, I wanna go over everything. First off, I really appreciated that this is a Ghibli movie that focuses more on the story than anything else. In a lot of these other ones, a lot of them do have a story going on, but a lot of them also focus more on the events happening around the story and focusing on very small thing that maybe don't seem all that significant. Like in Kiki's Delivery Service, I love that movie, but a lot of it was showing Kiki living her life and not that much was happening outside of that. Here though, this one spends almost the whole film giving us information about what's going on because there's a lot going on with this being a more mystery centred story. Even in some instances where you might think it is the typical Ghibli thing where not a whole lot is happening, they find really clever ways to make it relevant later on. But I also think they use it in other great ways for the drama because there's a lot of times when they have Anna and Marnie talk and it reveals a lot about their childhoods and it shows how hard their lives have been and I really appreciate how they make it appropriately dramatic and in ways that I think even kids would appreciate. And, in general, I just love the pacing of the film. It's done perfectly and how they do everything is so incredibly well thought out. It also helps that the characters really help carry the movie so well because of just how likeable they are. I love Anna and Marnie as characters. They're both so likeable and they're so well written too. Anna may have some moments where maybe she does some unlikeable things, but it's done in a way where you don't hate her for it and it's explained really well why it happened. It's also done well because of how tragic they make her. You understand exactly why she is the way she is and you understand why she's had a hard life until now. But she's also developed amazingly throughout the movie. The way she starts the movie being really depressed and how she ends it with being so much happier is done perfectly and is so believable. Marnie is also great as almost like the opposite of Anna because she's more open and carefree and their interactions are so well done. So, like I said, for most of the film, you're constantly trying to figure out what all the weird stuff that's going on is and how it all connects. But, by the end, it all came together amazingly and perfectly when it's finally revealed. So, by the end, it's actually revealed that Marnie is actually Anna's grandmother and all the things Anna was experiencing was Marnie's memories from a different perspective. I swear, I really did not see it coming and how they do is amazing and honestly heartbreaking as well when we hear about Marnie's backstory. I also love how Anna learns all this with Sayaka as well and I really like how their relationship builds through the movie too. And then the actual ending when we see the vision of Marnie saying goodbye to Anna as she leaves, it was just the most perfect ending they could have given after all the questions were answered. Really, I just can't praise this movie enough. I absolutely love it. It has amazing writing, amazing characters and amazing animation. This is honestly Studio Ghibli's best looking movie ever in my opinion. A lot of that is helped by the fact that this is a more recent film, but the movie is honestly one of the most beautiful looking hand-drawn animated movies I've ever seen. The dubbing in this also couldn't have been done any more perfectly, Hailee Steinfeld is absolutely amazing as Anna and Kiernan Shipka does a fantastic job as Marnie. And the others like Grey DeLisle, John C Reilly, Vanessa Williams and Ava Acres are really terrific as well. Like I said, this is honestly tied with Kiki's Delivery Service as far as which one is my all time favourite Studio Ghibli movie. This is also another one of those Ghibli movies that I personally would love as a relaxation film like a lot of the others. So, yeah, everyone, I would absolutely recommend you check this out. I loved it, and I'm so glad I checked it out myself. So, that's my review of When Marnie Was There. So, everyone, after six months of doing these Studio Ghibli reviews, we're finally at the very end. I'm so glad I decided to check these out and review them because they've honestly really helped change my perception of animated movies and I'm so grateful to them for that. I've really loved the experience of going through these with all of you and I hope you've all enjoyed reading these too. Also, Studio Ghibli's next movie is coming out maybe next month, so, if I'm able to see it, I would love to make a review for it so look forward to that whenever it happens. So, yeah, guys, thank you all for reading and please comment down below to tell me what you think.