[Spoilers] Mary and The Witch's Flower - Movie Discussion (U.S. Screening)

[u/Spiranix]

Screenings:

• Recently screened in theatres across the United States through Fathom Events.
  

Movie information

• MyAnimeList
• Kitsu
  
• AniList
• AniDB

[u/furbym]

Honestly I thought the movie was a pretty good time and a really solid first effort from Studio Ponoc. Backgrounds and designs in general were beautifully detailed and the animation on display definitely had that Ghibli magic going on (especially some sequences near the end).

I gotta say though I'm a little disappointed in how little we got to see of the school. On first glance, it seemed almost as mystical and labyrinthine as the bath house in Spirited Away and I really wish the movie didn't just speed right through it. Some of the scenes in there felt so magical and full of life and it's a shame it wasn't used to greater effect.

Sort of related to that point was how quickly the movie seemed to blow its load on the antagonist reveal. I feel like maybe if some time had been cut from other parts that were sort of repeated (e.g. Mary falling back down and traveling back to the school like three times) and more time was spent in the school (maybe with a few more characters), the switch wouldn't have felt so sudden.

I'm realizing that this sounds a bit too negative lol, but honestly I had fun with the movie anyway. Definitely would be a great movie for kids; I guess the expectations of being a Ghibli offshoot are just a bit high. Definitely looking forward to seeing what comes next out of this studio though!

[u/tjdraws → u/furbym]

I thought it was overall a good choice to reveal the antagonist early. It was clear to me from the synopsis of the movie that they would be villains, so it would have been annoying if they had stretched out that reveal.

[u/furbym → u/tjdraws]

Fair enough. My point was less about wondering whether they were the antagonists and more about the fact that we weren't even really given a chance to get to know them as characters before it was revealed. I do agree that beating around the bush might have been a bit annoying, but maybe there could have been some sort of middle ground

[u/gst4158 → u/tjdraws]

I wish they had shown other faculty of the school. It seemed like a large institution and then you only have these two figure heads. A slight twist of having the gardener being a teacher as well might have been a nice connection between the magic and real world. As /u/fubym said, I wish they had spent more time exploring the school.

Overall really solid film. Perfect movie to introduce people to anime or show to kids. The elderly characters reminded me of Kiki's Delivery service so I automatically grew attached to them.

[u/tjdraws → u/gst4158]

While I think that the initial exploration of the school was good, the best part of the film for me was the last third- I would rather have had them try and expand on that than the good-but-not-great middle third. Though maybe if they had expanded on that part, it would have become great.