13 Halloween movies for people who don’t like horror
By Amy Woolsey
Spirited Away (2002), image courtesy of Studio Ghibli
6. Spirited Away (2002)
Perhaps no movie more perfectly embodies the original spirit of Halloween than Spirited Away. Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning animated film opens with 10-year-old Chihiro reluctantly moving to a new home with her parents – a standard set-up for a coming-of-age tale. But when the family takes a spontaneous detour through an overgrown tunnel, they inadvertently cross into the spirit realm and stumble upon a literal ghost town, where they become trapped. In order to rescue her parents and return to human society, Chihiro agrees to work at a bathhouse owned by the witch Yubaba. She meets the world’s assorted residents, including the gallant Haku and the mute No-Face.
Although undeniably meant for kids, Spirited Away doesn’t hesitate to let its freak flag fly. Many of the spirits assume grotesque forms; Yubaba, for instance, has a gigantic head and can shape-shift into a vulture. The hand-drawn animation, sinuous yet colorful and richly textured, ensnares us in a fantasyland that’s alternately elusive and vibrant, anarchic and serene, spooky and sublime. The narrative unfurls at a dreamlike pace, eddying around inexplicable details (a rickety staircase suspended over an abyss, a train ride through water) while tracking Chihiro’s personal growth. It’s a remarkable feat of imagination, visual storytelling at its best.
Similar movies: Coraline (2009), Song of the Sea (2014)