Movie Review: When Marnie was There

Rating: ⭐⭐.5

I was less than impressed with this one unfortunately. I had heard the main theme song many times before and absolutely loved its romantic feel, so I had high hopes for this film! It sadly did not live up to my expectations and was confusing more than anything. Let’s take a deeper look!

Overview

Our main character Anna is sent away to her family’s house in the country for cleaner air, and while she is exploring the area she comes across an old abandoned-looking mansion across the marsh. Not only does she observe the mansion, but she also “imagines” another young girl seated in one of the windows. The story ends up leading us through these recurring experiences as Anna finally meets the young girl named Marnie and adventures with her. The mystery for the viewers remains: who is Marnie and is she real?

Review

This is a confusing one…and such a disappointment! I had so much excitement built up around this movie after being entranced by the music for months. Unfortunately, it just didn’t satisfy my curiosity.

I won’t spoil the surprise for anyone who hasn’t seen it (because it was spoiled for me and kind of ruined the movie from the start anyway), but finding out details about Marnie at the end was really underwhelming and frankly just confusing! I don’t feel convinced by their explanation, and it also didn’t feel like an “aha” kind of moment as it probably should.

I also didn’t really care for Anna as a main character which made it hard to connect with her. Yes, she had it tough at times, but she also treated other people horribly when they finally tried to be kind to her. It was very frustrating to watch.

The setting was quaint at times, but overall I was also kind of disappointed by the art and environment. It didn’t transport me anywhere which is usually such a fun thing in Ghibli movies (granted all of my previous experience was with Miyazaki).

Also, can we just talk about the guy who is mute for the entirety of the movie and then his one line is so unimpressive?! That made no sense to me.

Conclusion

I don’t know why this movie was really such a miss for me, and I would love to hear what others think! I don’t know that I could recommend seeing this one, but if you are working through all of the Studio Ghibli movies like we are, you’ll have to face it someday!