Drifting Home | MOVIE REVIEW
I have a LOT to say about this movie. This had been on my watchlist for months now, and when watching a movie, my expectation is usually that I would find it to be just good, maybe even great. But this movie blew those expectations RIGHT out of the water (pun intended).
It’s not perfect (no movie is), but in my eyes, this movie is MASSIVELY underrated.
REVIEW + SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!
The music in the opening is beautiful, sad, bittersweet, and feels like a callback to one’s childhood. The opening itself is also somewhat of a contrast to the rest of the film. Two kids, Kosuke and Natsume, running and playing like young kids do. The world is a playground built for them. Two kids who would come to drift apart, drift away, and become distant childish memories.
When they return to the place that was once filled with joy, there’s hesitance. Resentment. The argument between Kosuke and Natsume escalated quicker and higher than I had expected. Going from Natsume talking about a friend the other kids question the existence of, to Kosuke furiously chasing Natsume for his dead grandpa’s camera, leading to Natsume slipping and falling from the roof. And suddenly…..the world was flooded. All that remained was a vast ocean, the clouds in the sky, and the old apartment building. Being stuck in the building didn’t erase the resentment either. Even when trying to obtain food for survival, the two bicker and fight with pure rage. Only through peaks into their pasts could they finally reconcile.
Natsume is stubborn, but puts on a smile she hides behind. Hiding deep and painful emotions and memories of dealing with parents who constantly fought and the grief of losing someone who helped her heal from that trauma. In her pain and grief she continuously went back to that apartment, which caused her and several others to be stuck there. For all of this she felt like a horrible person, like people would be better off without her. But in the end, all of the kids came rushing to save her from the storm.
Then there’s Noppo. In the midst of the chaos of the situation: stranded on a floating building, nobody coming to help, no land in sight, when the kids search for food they encounter Noppo, the kid Natsume spoke of earlier in the movie before the kids found themselves in the middle of the ocean. Initially he seemed like a terrifying ghost, but after the anxiety subsided, they came to realize he’s just a regular kid like the others…..or so they think.
Until Noppo reveals that he’s been there since the apartment was first built…60 years ago. His arm, and then his whole body, had plants growing on it. He watched as people such as Kosuke and Natsume arrived, got older, and left the building. He was so attached that when the other kids planned on leaving due to the building sinking, he chose to stay behind, but Natsume stayed and begged him to come.
Kosuke and the rest came for the two of them. He vowed that he will only get home if Natsume and Nopo came with the rest of them. They can only survive if they stick together. But when the storm ceased and the building drifted into a realm where similar people with plants all over roamed, Noppo realized the kids can’t go home unless he left that building, and his newfound friends, behind to join the others in this realm.
This is a movie about drifting. Friendships drifting apart, then back home. Buildings drifting away, then back home. Drifting away from things that are painful, yet necessary, to drift away from.
But it’s also filled to the brim with specific concepts that intrigue my braincells: the world is an ocean. Abandoned buildings. Plants growing on people. Those blue glowy lights……a movie full of INSPIRATION for my CREATIVE ENDEAVORS…….by the way: the ending song SLAPS it’s Blush by Zutomayo. In case you were curious.
Would I Recommend: watch it. WATCH IT- only if you want to no pressure
Overall Rating: 10/10 (yes I know I said it’s not perfect but it is to me ;w;)
