Suzume follows the story of 17 year old girl who along with her talking chair must prevent natural disasters from being unleashed which would otherwise endanger the whole population of Japan. The story here is enchanting and beautifully delving into the concept of the elementals helping humanity. It was so heart-touching that it would potentially make you want to view things from a larger picture where none of your problems would really matter at the end. The screenplay here standing at about 120 minutes is the apt length for this film that makes for a magical watch in so many ways than one.

The drama does open with the introduction of a young teenage girl and her chance encounter with a mysterious man. A series of events that follow do establish the job of the mysterious man along with the introduction of a conflict. The drama here is magical in so many ways with right bouts of symbolism that represent the elementals and the transit between the two worlds. For instance, the door appearing at multiple junctures of the drama does represent a passage between the two worlds(the other world being termed as ‘Ever After’ in the film). Also the ‘cats’ signify the keystones, a term used to curb the natural disasters.

The proceedings are thoroughly engaging and engrossing to a point wherein you are invested on the journey of the protagonist and her talking chair apart from them sharing a warm relationship. The use of the chair is also a source of nostalgia given that it was given to the protagonist by her mother who isn’t with her anymore. There are certain things that do invoke a sense of memory from the past is just so well represented here. I also did like how some of the real life disasters were used as a passing reference in the narrative of the world. The use of weather and the surroundings is put to good use and is an integral cog in the story. But at its core, the story is about the human emotions that are still wanting to hold the past while finding solace in the present while unknowingly interacting with the elementals or the invisible helpers. And that was just so beautifully showcased that it made for a tingling heartwarming feeling.

The third act of the film is filled with magic where the film did begin to talk to me in a strange way. While the goal was to prevent the natural disasters from recurring and finding the lost love of the protagonist, the internal conflicts of the protagonist were so well represented that they did touch my heart instantly. In a beautifully moving scene, the protagonist is shown talking to her future self and that did sooth me to no extent. It was a calming influence that ‘this might seem to be an endless night at the moment but there will be light in the future’ – a line enough to make a grown up man cry. The screenplay is beautifully penned exploring the invisible helpers yet providing so much hope that in the end everything will turn out to be fime whilst they are around.