Film Warnings: Bullying, Death Threats, Attempted Sexual Assault by a parent, Fatphobia, Depression, Fantasy Violence (PG)
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“You’re fighting every single day, isn’t that true?“
There is something to be said about the loneliness of being a child, about the intense sense of solitude that can overwhelm someone on the cusp of stepping all the more close to adulthood, especially when they’ve been mistreated and left licking their wounds.
That was the first thought I had when I saw Anzai Kokoro, the lead protagonist to this story about seven teenagers finding themselves in an otherworldly castle in Lonely Castle in the Mirror.
Anzai Kokoro is more than just a shut-in: she’s stuck in time, unable to move forward through the trauma dealt her. She’s sick because mental health is absolutely always, always a sickness that deserves treatment, treatment she doesn’t feel she can seek. She’s sick because it’s hard to gain momentum when there’s none to be had.
So it makes sense that when her mirror suddenly becomes a portal to somewhere else, ready or not, she gets sucked into a place where’s she can finally belong, or at least, a place where she be and not feel the immense guilt that so clearly plagues her.
…if only it were that easy, huh?
Such is the main plot of Lonely Castle in the Mirror, a story all about wishes and what a person really wants, spread out over the course of a year. It’s portal fiction, the best kind of fiction, mixed with tried and true coming of age storytelling and so much heartbreak—and simultaneously, so much healing and a powerful way to move through and start to thrive again.
During her time in the castle, Kokoro meets a group of fellow shut-ins, middle schoolers just like her who, for one reason or another, don’t go to school. The reasons are there of course, if you look for them, and all too often, they come down to bullying. It’s a quietly scathing commentary on the status of Japanese children that only grows louder and more profound as the movie winds its way through its runtime.
I can’t help but feel for Kokoro since I watched this movie in the depths of my ongoing struggles with major depressive disorder, especially recently. But I think my reviews are best when I don’t divorce myself from how media affects me. Plus, I think even if I was in a more stable place, I’d still feel this connection to Kokoro and to her experience of growing to find new connections within the magical realm of the Wolf Queen’s castle. It’s impossible not to be affected by her the longer you sit with this story.
The magic of this movie has less to do with the castle and it’s capricious queen and more to do with Kokoro’s healing. It’s the magic of playing a board game with friends, sharing warm strawberry tea brewed in our reality, eating cookies that still have the just baked taste. It’s the celebration and the power of a memento mori when they take the form of the death of memories and pain. It’s the magic of being alive, of living for yourself, of moving through and surviving the pain dealt you.
And it’s about finding yourself at the end of a story, even if it didn’t start the way you wanted it to.
And when there plot comes together, when every thread is woven into the tapestry that is this film, when the plot is wholly and fully devoured…well, the result is one of the best movies I’ve watched in 2024. It’s enough that I immediately started the recently translated book, just to get a more in-depth experience and see the ending play out again.
Like I said, it’s impossible to divorce my own current experience from my watch of this movie: I do desperately wish to be saved from there sleepless nights, from the emotional turmoil. I wish I had a key to turn back time, a castle to find solace in. I wish I understood how to reach out and more, how to be okay with that being necessary. I’m learning, just like Kokoro.
But what I do have in my own grasp is my ability to believe, to hope, and to reach out. I think that’s really what this movie comes down to: the incredible power of human kindness. That’s enough, and I think Lonely Castle in the Mirror would agree.
This is an easy recommendation, and at $2.99 for an HD Rental on Amazon Prime, you really should take two hours of your day to enjoy this really special film. I watched the dub, which is what I’m going to link: I think it’s quite well done and a great way to experience this story.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Backlit Pixels 