Drifting Home (2022) User Reviews

adrift

[Rob-O-Cop · 7/10 · 16 September 2022]

A lovely visual treat with an inventive story idea.

I love that this was a contemplative movie with serious culture shots fired through it. From vintage snack treats, to the feeling of growing up and the old buildings and places you frequent then lose but the memories remain. The intro credits sequence of the buildings getting built as their lives continue across the process was very well done. Strong japanese city details from the views to the sounds. Very authentic and detailed.

It is a long movie and the last 1/4 where they're jumping into the ocean to save each other got repetitive and didn't really yield the payoff for the action it delivered.

The destination wasn't as deep or perfect as it could have been but I think we knew that was going to happen by the half way mark. This movie posed thoughts rather than delivered answers and it was as much about the journey as it was the destination.

It's great to have another movie with no baddies (antagonist) or violence in it that can still hold your attention and activate your mind. Western cinema has stagnated on that concept and can't seem to think it's way out of that cul de sac. It is to Japan's credit that they can.

Beautiful Unfulfilled Potential

[SleepyMaya · 6/10 · 27 September 2022]

The art is very beautiful and the environment is visually enjoyable to watch, I really loved the colors and the graphics. The story itself had a lot of potential, especially when it comes to the mystery character.

However, the story just doesn't go deep enough in my opinion, and has the focus on the wrong thing. Instead of exploring the real mystery about the situation, the whole focus story wise is on the two main characters and how they are "like siblings", except they are just not that interesting. These two don't develop at all, they stay exactly the same and you can predict exactly what they will do. They keep repeating the exact same story about their life by thinking about memories that keep repeating pretty much the same point, as barely anything really happened in their life to begin with. They keep arguing about the same childish things in the most unrealistic times, when there are clearly more important things for them to worry about. Everything about these two characters is just very repetitive through the whole movie, even though everything else about the movie could be way more interesting, and gets completely neglected by the script. Majority of the other characters are just there for the sake of saying there are more characters, and we barely learn anything at all about them.

There are so many great directions this could have gone if the story was actually about the drifting house and if they explored Noppo's backstory more, but sadly it ended up mostly as a drama story about two children who keep talking about how they use to live together, and argue for no reason in every situation that makes zero sense to argue on.

All that said, everything other than the story about these two characters is still nice to watch, it's just hard not to feel like there are so many easy ways that this movie could have been better.

Lot of Potential, but a bit messy

[talking_about_movies · 7/10 · 16 September 2022]

When it comes to the fantasy genre, anime movies have a lot to offer. Which is why I was looking forward to this movie.

Drifting Home is a movie that could have been really good. But, it tries to be 2 things at once. I admire plenty of stuff about this movie. I think there's a really sweet friendship at the core of the movie, some good teenage drama (except for one character, who I thought was very annoying), a couple of good character stories, interesting supernatural entities and really good direction. There are many shots in this movie which are beautifully drawn. And it actually has some intense escape sequences which I didn't expect.

It's just that this movie can't decide what it is. If this was a 90 minute school drama, I might have really enjoyed this. If it was a supernatural mystery with some character building as well, I would have really enjoyed that as well, because the first hour was a great setup for a mystery. But it's neither of those things. It takes 2 hours of runtime trying to be both at once which didn't work for me. Since it sees itself as a drama it doesn't explain many of the supernatural stuff that happens convenient for the sake of the characters and the plot. And the drama in the middle of all the disastrous stuff happening, worked for once but it got really repetitive after a while. In the end it just dragged on and got a bit messy. I don't think it's bad at all. It's just that it could have been a lot more than it is.

Good enough............

[owenpont-70803 · 7/10 · 4 November 2022]

This films best quality is its animation. By far this is the best thing about it. The buildings moving in the water and the underwater scenes are great. The story is really original and if the movie was shortened by twenty minutes or so, it would have worked much better. The thing that massively holds this film back are the characters and runtime. The runtime is just under two hours and it drags. The films two leads keep apologizing to each other time and time agian to where its just annoying. The mysterious conclusion on what happened at the end just seemed cheap and that they didn't know how to end it. So while there are quite a lot of positives to keep the film afloat to me, it is certainly far from perfect. That saying I think a 7/10 is deserving seeing as the film worked enough to where it had more good then bad things for it.

Drifting off.

[Pjtaylor-96-138044 · 6/10 · 28 October 2022]

'Drifting Home (2022)' is an animated adventure that sees a group of elementary schoolers trapped inside an abandoned apartment block as it floats along a seemingly endless sea after a spout of torrential rain floods what seems like the whole world. Is it real? Is it a dream? Is it a poorly conceived allegory? Don't expect an answer to that, as the flick never even attempts to tackle its ambiguities. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but the way in which it's done leaves quite a bit to be desired. Of course, that's a relatively minor issue in the grand scheme of things. That's because the flick suffers from a much more destructive flaw: it's way too long. Marching past its anticipated ninety minute runtime and barrelling headfirst into triple digits, the piece unflinchingly stretches its relatively repetitive plot far past the pinnacle of its elasticity. There are about four different endings, each of which visualise the same central conflict in a slightly different way. The way in which its stubborn characters constantly regress away from the growth that's often within their reach is rather interesting, but it happens once or twice too often to feel satisfying and actually seems a bit accidental when you consider the other pacing problems the piece has. It's worth mentioning that the characters are rather well-rounded and generally have an underlying complexity that's perhaps unanticipated. However, a few of them are certainly less developed than the others, acting more as filler than anything else. All of them are brash, immature kids who shout and scream and cry and kick off for no real reason, which is as realistic and believable as it is annoying and (potentially) off-putting. The animation does a good job of conveying the story, though there are some instances of really odd framing that seem to only exist as they do so that the animators can avoid doing lip-sync in a couple of scenes. Generally, it's a visually pleasing piece that eventually contrasts lots of colour and vibrancy with the tangibly gritty milieu of its decaying brutalist setting. It's not the most aesthetically astounding anime I've seen, but it's certainly well-achieved and keeps you engaged - visually, at least. The film makes obvious efforts to be emotionally moving but it ends up dealing in overblown melodrama more than considered poignancy. Its emotional elements definitely work on occasion, though, and they hint at a more powerful picture hidden somewhere within this one. Ultimately, this is a decent animated effort that struggles with a strained pacing but has some enjoyable moments sprinkled throughout its unfortunate two-hour runtime.

Another wonderful netflix anime

[LetsReviewThat26 · 7/10 · 18 September 2022]

This was another beautiful movie. I would say though that the whole thing with the complex being at sea made no sense. But does it really have to. The more I watched though I interpreted the film in a way of childhood innocence slipping away from these kids as the one thing they have always known may not be with them anymore. It was a very nice film and I enjoyed the character development we got with each of them, there were some intense scenes that were a little scared and at one point I thought it was all the head of the main character. Overall though yet another lovely anime. Its showing that netflix is getting better and better at making them.

Good Art, Bad Characters

[jasonnomnom-63045 · 4/10 · 17 September 2022]

This show could have been good if they didnt rely on unruly children being annoying and bickering the whole time to create drama and obstacles.

The art is great, the theme is unique. But the characters are just completely unbearable.

The children all looking back at their life remembering their best memories when they are like 12 years old is super annoying, they make them reminisce like they have lived these long traumatic lives full of woes and hardships. These are kids, not 50 year olds meeting up for a class reunion.

Kid being a jerk to everyone just to be a jerk. Other kid being a jerk just because hes selfish. Other kid being a jerk because the other kids being selfish.

The only likeable characters are the ones that seem more like side characters just there to fill the empty space.

Pure Gold!

[cliftonandrew-16324 · 10/10 · 12 October 2022]

This movie is a must watch it's pure gold! You can sit down and watch this masterpiece with the kids and family

A very emotional movie with a hint of action, adventure, fantasy and slice of life. Very comedic in the first part of the movie, adventurous and packed with action in the second act. The final act full with emotional surprises and amazing sound scores. Every each one of the characters have their own significant role and unique to each other. Amazing voice casting and big fan of the animation style. Possibly the best foreign animated movie of the year 2022 so far. Perfect ending and original song. Amazing movie and highly recommended.

Total floop

[Snootz · 3/10 · 18 September 2022]

Usually I enjoy creative anime, even if it's a bit over the top. But this is nonsensical, drawn out, has irritating characters and very little to say as far as plot, story or any other redeemable qualities. The story is contrived, with absolutely nothing explained in the way of reason, cause, or even purpose of the story. It appears to be a "growth lesson" where the main characters all learn something and become stronger, but they really don't, at all. They remain the same irritating emo mess as when the story first started out. This is a good example of what happens when inept script-writers are mixed with poor directors.

I've enjoyed many "very odd" anime, but this is just a creative mess.

Loved it!

[notsimmysharma · 10/10 · 20 October 2022]

I really don't know why it's rating is so low.

It was a really good movie for me ,it took me on a emotional ride where I felt anger,sadness,happiness,joy.

I really liked it!,only wished for Nobu to be with them even just in the form of tree or some .

Anyway,this was a good movie I watched in a while and this is one of the best movies atleast for me it is that I have watched in 2022 considering that it's an anime.

Really well written and the use of camera positioning is well done.

I really hope that more people watch this and this too like Ghibli movies get popular , again gonna say it ,I loved it.

OMG...Too long and too annoying

[strangewayssideshow · 4/10 · 27 September 2022]

The idea of this story is a good one and the imagery is frequently beautiful and obviously the 2011 tsunami influenced this story but....

The characters are just so damn annoying. Kosuke and Natsume are just so freaking obnoxious. The constant bickering gets old. And, the bratty girl is the worst. The only likable character is the bigger boy in the red shirt; he's sweet.

But, worst of all, it's just way too long. This should have been 85 minutes tops. It's just endlessly repetitive and heavy handed with the "lessons" the kids learn.

I think a main problem is, the filmmakers desperately want to be Miyazaki but they don't understand how to do that. Miyazaki is the master of expressing complex ideas but in a very clear, concise way. It's why he's the Master.

Traversing through the aspects of grief

[pranayjalvi · 7/10 · 2 October 2022]

Drifting Home is admirable for its patient commitment to unpacking the children's feelings about each other, the building, and other relics from their pasts, all as they learn how to carry their attachments and memories to new places.

Helmed by Studio Colorido (A Whisker Away, Penguin Highway), Drifting Home had good visuals, with a fantasical kinda storyline that relies upon relationships that are tough to let go. There's enough liveliness to Drifting Home that two hours in a single location against a minimal background doesn't actually feel like overkill. While the overall journey is smartly and sensitively realized, there are points where the movie does feel (appropriately!) a little lost at sea, as its characters wrestle between youthful impulses and empathy for their friends.

My Rating : 7/10.

Drifting and drifting and drifting ...

[keikoyoshikawa · 3/10 · 30 October 2022]

The main characters in this anime are supposed to be in sixth grade - meaning they're about 11 or 12 years old - but the way they talk and sometimes behave are not what Japanese children at this age usually do. And that's just one major problem in the movie that can't be overlooked.

I'm a big fan of anime that combines elements of reality and fantasy - e.g. Your Name, Her Blue Sky, etc. - but Drifting Home, by Studio Colorido which also produced a much better story in A Whisker Away, fails to give us convincing characters and situations. The story, ultimately, is vacuous and meandering, resulting in a very unsatisfying end.

I think had the characters been made to be in senior high school, then the plot could have been much better. Sadly, this was a missed opportunity that could have used a more thoughtful rewrite.

Amazing Movie, doesn't deserve this bad rating.

[man-84371 · 10/10 · 13 November 2022]

The movie is great! It's better than most of the anime I had watched. The characters were unique and made me actually feel nervous, sad, angry, etc when the directors wanted me to. Their background is also interesting as well.

Animation The animation was absolutely stunning. The flowing water, the emotions, the backgrounds and setting... all beautiful. The use for shading and colors for the movie was well and used appropriately, making the movie irresistible to at least take a glance at. Props to the animators for making this indefinitely charming art!

Characters Though the characters were a bit bland, they definitely had more effort put into writing them. The "popular girl actually thought of the "nerd girl" fondly and even said she was her best friend. There is also an independent character who isn't edgy, which is quite nice.

Writing The directors and writers have done an amazing job with the backstories of the two main characters and tying together the main parts of the movie. The turning point and the shocking surprises here and there kept me engaged as well.

The writers put in common sense when dealing with the character's trauma and problems in their life and showed how they were effected by it. (I'm not going to say anything else bc spoilers.)

A good premise that could be a masterpiece...

[rodrigonavalho · 7/10 · 28 February 2024]

Here's another emotional and curious animation from Netflix, Drifting Home is a Japanese animation nominated for Best Anime Film of 2023, losing the podium to Sword Art Online Progressive: Aria of a Starless Night. With fluid animation and impeccable work by the dubbers (both the Japanese and English dubbers), A House Adrift presents us with a complex narrative that explores the Five Stages of Grief and the behaviour of young pre-teens when faced with dangerous situations, where Friendship and Trust are called into question.

Despite managing to balance the elements of Drama with Comedy and Adventure (Drama being the main element that makes up the narrative), A House Adrift fails to define a target audience, adopting a narrative direction (with some violent moments where blood and physical injuries appear) for a much older audience than the one that would possibly be attracted to the work. In this touching animation, we meet a group of five youngsters (aged between 10 and 12) who are prevented from returning home when they find themselves trapped inside a residential block about to be demolished. The residential block is nothing more than the old building where Kosuke and Natsume (the main characters) lived, a place of many strong memories that prove to affect young Natsume in particular. The group is made up of stereotype characters that are very common in POP culture or Japanese media. Kosuke is the typical adventurous and logical male character, with explosive behaviour and an indomitable spirit, Natsume is the one who keeps her feelings to herself, repressing herself and conveying a false sense of calm and security, little Taishi is the comic relief and pairs up with Yuzuko, the typical "gentle giant". In parallel, there's the energetic and popular Reina whose temper is controlled by the calm Juri, the "adult" character in the group of friends. Together, they try to return home and survive in the ocean where the residential block seems to be adrift.

In addition to the mystery of the residential block and why it was "teleported" into an ocean with other buildings adrift, there are also small secondary elements, such as the identity of Natsume's "friend", the mysterious Noppo, and why Natsume and Kosuke stopped being friends. The narrative has a beginning, middle and end, bringing all the narrative elements together at the end without leaving any questions open. Although it has an interesting premise and, like other Japanese animated films, contains an intense soundtrack and breathtaking moments, some of the concepts it deals with have already been explored in other films and anime, such as the dynamic that exists between all the characters. Even though it enchants on the visual and aural fronts, it doesn't innovate in the narrative niche.

It is possible to say that A House Adrift is a film that could please a large part of the public interested in Japanese entertainment content, behaving as a singular and well-structured piece of cinema, but it loses the definition of a target audience and zigzags between narrative elements that, if explored, could have made the whole story more intense and interesting for the viewer. With that, I end this review by giving the film a rating of 7.5/10.

Not nearly there

[scriptofilmng · 4/10 · 21 September 2022]

I love animes. Even the ones you'd find odd. But this just proved to be too much crambled into one film. It's once again the usual story of stories having potential but lacking proper execution.

Just ends up too messy and disorganized. Leaves no time at all to build with the story. This is not how you tell a story.

Many questions were left unanswered, and the problem was that it wasn't even deliberate. Not all grim and dark, of course it's a fair attempt but something just leaves you with a sour feeling that the movie could have been a whole lot better. At least for most parts.

Definitely not going to be top of my recommendations.

Misunderstood movie

[manalsallam · 9/10 · 5 March 2023]

Very complex plot not intended for kids. At the surface the plot might seems a supernatural teenage story. But for old school Japanese anime lovers they would appreciate and understand the story which discusses childhood trauma and its effect (isolation, anger, emotional numbness and failed relationships).

The plot was extraordinary, using the water and storms as metaphor for emotions and feelings and stressing on the importance of close relationships.

I don't understand the low rating of the movie, I think most of people didn't get it. It reminds me so much of studio ghibli movies, entertaining but with an important message.

A movie that provoks emotions and leave you with a feeling of loss and relief at the same time.

Drifting Home offers enough for anime fans to consider it a must-see, but it doesn't quite reach classic status

[kevin_robbins · 6/10 · 10 November 2023]

My daughter and I recently watched Drifting Home (2022) on Netflix. The storyline follows two middle school friends gradually drifting apart, who decide to revisit their abandoned childhood housing complex. They mysteriously fall asleep and wake up in their complex which is now floating at sea. As they work with old and new friends, they strive to survive and find their way home.

Directed by Hiroyasu Ishida (Penguin Highway) the movie features the voices of Ayumu Murase (Ranking of Kings), Bin Shimada (Dead or Alive 2), Kana Hanazawa (Your Name) and Inori Minase (One Room).

This film is a bit uneven, with both noteworthy aspects and some misses. The original and entertaining premise unfolds well, and the ending neatly brings the storyline full circle. However, the characters and their subplots lack the depth and compelling nature they could have had. The first half of the movie is somewhat bland, but the second half picks up with well-executed action that draws you in. While the animation is solid, it doesn't reach outstanding levels.

In conclusion, Drifting Home offers enough for anime fans to consider it a must-see, but it doesn't quite reach classic status. I would give it a 6/10 and recommend seeing it once.

Superb movie, very emotional and adventurous.

[sisubalan · 9/10 · 2 October 2022]

Just wow. Amazing scores, the sound effects were very compelling and plays huge role to keep the audience stay with this movie and its epic adventure of emotions and drama till the end. Very family oriented movie and carries many important messages that - everyone needs someone to lean on emotionally and physically, learn to let go of the past and ready move on, traumatic experiences faced by divorced parents and jealously of one person to other, etc.

A very emotional movie with a hint of action, adventure, fantasy and slice of life. Very comedic in the first part of the movie, adventurous and packed with action in the second act. The final act full with emotional surprises and amazing sound scores. Every each one of the characters have their own significant role and unique to each other. Amazing voice casting and big fan of the animation style. Possibly the best foreign animated movie of the year 2022 so far. Perfect ending and original song. Superb movie and highly recommended.

Amazing animated movie, I gave a solid 10

[oumaiimahamila · 10/10 · 21 September 2022]

This movie is fantastically well written and the animation is just breathtaking! The story is so catching, thrilling, and filled with many subtle messages which you can perceive in many different ways. The interactions between the characters, the characters themselves and the events are very smartly written in a way that both young and adult audience can understand and interpret based on their level of intelligence and sensitivity. For me the movie is a success. It made me laugh and cry, and revisit many memories. Please watch it actively and passionately!

PS. The movie deserves better rates.

Loved it! Doesn't deserve the hate.

[imankpisjes · 10/10 · 2 March 2023]

It's a children's movie, of course its going to be long and non-sensical, its going to look pretty and it wont have a solid plot because children don't look at the plot.

It's pretty, the animation is stunning and very eye capturing. It's not really graphic and there are no 'annoying' characters, just elementary school children who are in a terrifying situation.

It may have been dragged out but the emotional connection between the characters made it worth it.

Netflix isn't making children's movies to please you its for the intended target audience and movie night at my house was great!

If you're looking for animes with great plots, watch those which have been made to target your demographic. Don't rate a perfectly good movie low, especially one that teaches children that you're not alone.

Pretty good plot and ok charecters streched over way too long

[matarab-31722 · 8/10 · 10 April 2023]

This movie was great, the plot was really solid, the emotional aspect is incredible and the animation is really impressive, but with that said not all of the things that this movie does are great, i have 2 main problems in this movie, the first one is that some of the charecters can be pretty unlikeable at the start Especially kosuke and reina but i can forgive this flaw because they do get better over the course of the movie, my second and probably biggest problem of the movie is the fact that it was way too long, dont get me wrong i understand they needed time to flesh out and develope the charecters but i feel like the movie sometimes drags on, this movie was way better if they made it an houre and 40 minutes instead of 2 houres but over all i really liked this movie so i give it an 8/10.

Nice visualization + Good music and story

[leonardlucky-73471 · 10/10 · 19 September 2022]

Imagination is limitless in this film, with touching slow pace story, good enough to chill and watch.

The fun unimaginable adventure with lesson being grateful of one self and aware of the love one around!

There is no regrets and just really fun to watch!

Love the simplicity and the small adventure within with some mystery on the way to the end.

Good character build and backstory and still better than recent lots of other nonsense films outthere!

I definitely enjoy every bit from the start to the end.

Hopefully there are more Anime Films like this and keep your imaginary free and wild to the max!

Pretty nice!

The best movie I've ever watch

[kh-57455-50498 · 10/10 · 18 September 2022]

This is a good movie, it has gathered enough elements to make viewers cry. I cried and felt a little nauseous while watching it. In terms of the film's visuals, the quality is really very good. As for the plot, the film has content like no other, which has made it new. The film also has another interesting aspect of aspect ratio. The music, the character design, the voice actors are both superb. Another plus for the film is that they have released the film globally, making it accessible to more people. I think this is the most meaningful anime movie in history. As well as worthy of being one of the best anime movies ever.

Great poetic movie!

[SandyDays · 8/10 · 1 August 2023]

This movie explained emotions of nostalgia and the point when you don't know anymore neither you hold to the past or the past is holding to you! Or for better expression (the past is holding you back).

It's good to watch with ur kids or even u alone will find it good if you can enjoy poetic movies.

It has some action and drama and thriller too. So it's not a boring film.

The drawing has some great artistic pieces the voice acting is good in both languages (Japanese and English too).

I don't know why should i have a 600 lettres comment, that made me talk about things with no much importance as you see.