20 supremely cozy books and movies for hibernation season
12. Spirited Away
In all honesty, the entirety of Hayao Miyazaki’s filmography is practically tailormade for this list. There are enough dramatic episodes and underlying messaging in his work to ensure its artistic reputation. However, rest assured that everything in his movies will work out in the end. Miyazaki may rail against the evil exhibited by humanity, especially when it comes to environmental devastation, but he also rejoices in the hope of redemption.
Miyazaki might even end the world in dramatic fashion, as in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and yet still leave you with a sense of warmth and hope by the time the credits roll. People don’t call him a master of his craft for nothing.
Spirited Away plays out on something of a less grand scale than Nausicaä or Princess Mononoke, though it’s just as rich as any other Miyazaki film. It follows Chihiro, a young girl whose family has just moved to a new home. Chihiro sulks in the back of the family in the opening scene, fairly heartbroken at leaving her friends behind.
When her father takes a wrong turn, the family enters a strange, magical world. The unsuspecting parents insist on exploring, especially embarrassing Chihiro when they begin to pig out at a deserted restaurant stall. Chihiro wanders away, encountering a mysterious boy named Haku. He’s none too happy to see her, warning that she should escape across a river before nightfall.
Alas, it’s too late. Chihiro’s parents have been turned into actual pigs, while Chihiro herself can’t cross the river on her own. She’s stuck in the spirit world. Luckily, she is able to find work at the local bathhouse, run by the fearsome witch Yubaba.
With Yubaba, the strange spirits, and a menacing figure called “No-Face”, you’d think this was a horror movie. In fact, the world of the bathhouse, as weird as it is, turns out to be strangely comforting. No-Face does indeed cause trouble, but nothing that Chihiro (who is renamed “Sen” by Yubaba) can’t handle.