From the celebrated Academy Award®-nominated director Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu (creators of MIRAI, WOLF CHILDREN, SUMMER WARS, and more) comes a fantastical, heartfelt story of growing up in the age of social media.
Suzu is a shy, everyday high school student living in a rural village. For years, she has only been a shadow of herself. But when she enters “U,” a massive virtual world, she escapes into her online persona as Belle, a gorgeous and globally-beloved singer. One day, her concert is interrupted by a monstrous creature chased by vigilantes. As their hunt escalates, Suzu embarks on an emotional and epic quest to uncover the identity of this mysterious “beast” — and to discover her true self in a world where you can be anyone.
“Fast becoming one of the most exciting filmmakers in Japanese animation, Hosoda continues to build on an impressive body of work, dealing with heavy themes in a sensitive and artistic manner.” —Hannah Strong, Little White Lies “If the moral of this story is ultimately a simple one, at least Suzu learns it in a way too novel to forget: The internet can give anyone a voice, but it's only a beautiful place when people actually hear each other.” —David Erhlich, IndieWire “A beautifully observed, dazzlingly animated sci-fi fairy tale about our online-offline double lives - it's Hosoda's finest film since 2012's WOLF CHILDREN, and perhaps his best to date.” —Robbie Collin, Daily Telegraph
