---
title: "Spirited Away"
year: 2001
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/spirited-away"
fi1m_id: "spirited-away"
imdb_id: "tt0245429"
tmdb_id: 129
wikidata_id: "Q155653"
fi1m_score: 92
critics_score: 91
critics_reviews: 9
published: "2026-09-14"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:37:41.149285+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Spirited Away (2001)

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki · 2h 05m · MPA PG · Animation, Family, Fantasy

## Identity

Spirited Away

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/spirited-away
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** spirited-away
- **IMDb ID:** tt0245429
- **TMDB ID:** 129
- **Wikidata ID:** Q155653
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0245429/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/129, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q155653

**Fi1m score: 92** · Critics 91 from 9 reviews

*In a sentence:* Growing up is awkward enough without having spirits for customers

> Hayao Miyazaki’s fantasy makes a child’s work in a spirit bathhouse compelling, frightening and moving. Its wandering pace asks for patience, but we would recommend it to adults and children alike.

## Synopsis

Chihiro (voiced by Rumi Hiiragi) enters a mysterious town beyond a tunnel and encounters a world of spirits. Work in a bathhouse becomes part of her attempt to find her place there, as she learns what she can do and whom she can trust. Haku (Miyu Irino), Yubaba (Mari Natsuki) and Rin (Yumi Tamai) are among the figures she encounters. Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, this animated fantasy follows a girl learning to make her way through unfamiliar surroundings, where questions of identity and greed sit alongside the demands of her work.

## Review

We would readily recommend Hayao Miyazaki’s *Spirited Away* to someone who never chooses animation. Its heroine, Chihiro, needs to find her way through a spirit world whose ways she cannot take for granted. Miyazaki, who also wrote the screenplay, takes her uncertainty seriously. For all the pleasure of exploring this place, the film keeps us conscious of how much there is for one girl to learn.

Rumi Hiiragi’s voice performance keeps Chihiro young enough to be unsure of herself, even when the story asks her to be resourceful. We can hear effort in her responses, which makes her growing confidence persuasive. The bathhouse gives that change a practical setting: Chihiro has work to do, and doing it helps her find a purpose. We were moved by Chihiro working in the bathhouse, because Miyazaki makes the effort of an inexperienced child worth watching without pretending it is easy.

Atsushi Okui’s cinematography keeps Chihiro readable within the densely drawn bathhouse. The eye can enjoy the elaborate surroundings and still return to the girl trying to manage inside them. That matters because a fantasy becomes tiring when everything in the frame demands equal attention. The fluid, hand-drawn animation also gives these unlikely beings a convincing physical presence. Their movements tell us something about them, so we have more to watch than a succession of peculiar creatures being presented for inspection.

Takeshi Seyama’s editing lets the story follow the odd associations of a dream without making Chihiro’s situation feel inconsequential. There is time to become curious about the place, rather than simply wait for the next danger. Joe Hisaishi’s score keeps her vulnerability audible amid the busy images, giving the quieter emotions room to register. The music’s tenderness is welcome because Miyazaki has not made this a reliably comforting place.

The pace does slacken, and at 125 minutes the film asks for more sustained attention than every small child will have to spare. Seyama sometimes gives us longer to absorb a passage than we need. The movement between encounters can also leave us waiting for Chihiro to take charge again, however much there is to look at along the way. We wanted a little more urgency in those passages, particularly when our concern for her was stronger than our curiosity about her surroundings.

Miyazaki allows the spirits to be difficult to judge, which makes Chihiro’s trust matter. We cannot assume we understand someone simply because of the way they have been drawn, and that uncertainty keeps the encounters interesting. The concern with greed is clear enough, but the film is more engaging when it lets Chihiro learn through the demands of her work. Family adventures can make growing up sound like a matter of discovering special gifts; here, the process includes having to be useful.

It carries a PG certificate, though the unfamiliar creatures and uncertain rules may be a lot for a small child to take in. We would rather watch it together than treat it as something to occupy the youngest person in the house. Allow time afterwards for questions, particularly if a child is watching with you.

*Fi1m score 92, published 14 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

The reviews are uniformly positive, with praise centred on the hand-drawn animation, the detail of the spirit world and Miyazaki’s imaginative freedom. Critics repeatedly connect the film’s dreamlike storytelling to its memorable images, while finding emotional substance in Chihiro’s growing independence. Her vulnerability and determination give the fantasy a human centre, and several reviews stress that its strangeness sits comfortably alongside familiar fairy-tale themes of identity, love and greed.

There is little substantive criticism in these reviews; the spread runs from warm approval to wholehearted enthusiasm rather than revealing a division over the film’s merits. Differences are chiefly in emphasis: Sight and Sound focuses on Chihiro finding purpose through work in the bathhouse, while Variety considers how well the humour and fantasy survive re-voicing. The consensus leaves few reservations to weigh, though some critics dwell more on the film’s visual invention than on its moral concerns.

## Straight answers

**Is Spirited Away worth watching?**

*Spirited Away* is worth watching for adults and children alike, and we scored it 92. Hayao Miyazaki takes Chihiro's uncertainty in the spirit bathhouse seriously, and her effort at unfamiliar work is what moved us. The wandering pace asks for patience, and at 125 minutes it demands more sustained attention than every small child has to spare.

**How long is Spirited Away, and what is it rated?**

*Spirited Away* runs 2h 05m and is rated PG by the MPA in the US. It is an animation and family film.

**Where can I watch Spirited Away in the US?**

*Spirited Away* is streaming on HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu and The Roku Channel in the US, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from $3.59. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How does Spirited Away compare to My Neighbor Totoro?**

*Spirited Away* is the larger and more frightening of the two, while [*My Neighbor Totoro*](https://film.one/film/my-neighbor-totoro) gives childhood uncertainty a gentler setting without dismissing its fears. Both take children seriously, but Chihiro has work to do and spirits she cannot easily judge, where Totoro is smaller in scale, funnier and more patient. Choose the earlier film for younger children, and this one for anyone ready to be unsettled.

**What should I watch after Spirited Away?**

After *Spirited Away*, try [*My Neighbour Totoro*](https://film.one/film/my-neighbor-totoro) (1988, Fi1m 89): Miyazaki gives childhood uncertainty a gentler setting, without dismissing its fears. Then [*The Spirit of the Beehive*](https://film.one/film/the-spirit-of-the-beehive) (1973, Fi1m 87): A darker companion, with a child’s imagination confronting an unsettling adult world; and [*Song of the Sea*](https://film.one/film/song-of-the-sea) (2014, Fi1m 82): Folklore and family sorrow share drawings that reward a patient eye.

### Reviews we read (12)

- **Radio Times**, Calum Baker (5/5): The review calls it one of the greatest screen fantasies and a perfect coming-of-age fable that brought Japanese animation to wider Western audiences. It singles out the remarkable stream of memorable hand-drawn images enabled by the dreamlike logic. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-3c5ncb/spirited-away/)
- **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (4/4): This is a wonderful film and one of the year’s best. It enchants with its painterly drawing style, rich details, and a story of a girl navigating a fantastical spirit world. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/spirited-away-2002)
- **The Times**, Jason Solomons (5/5): The critic hails it as a masterpiece of animation and unparalleled genius that reaffirms faith in cinema's power. It is a startlingly original work blending cultural resonances with dazzling, sensual hand-drawn animation and a gorgeous score, elevating it above even Disney heights. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/more-film-releases-zjsfzgpnfx8)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan (90/100, inferred): Prepare to be astonished by this visual wonder from a master animator with a fierce and fearless imagination. It is a heroic adventure story with a magical, fairy-tale quality and lessons on love, identity, and greed. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-sep-20-et-turan20-story.html)
- **Screen Daily** (90/100, inferred): The critic deems it a masterwork and the culmination of Miyazaki’s career, a joy and wonder whose fantasy world is both universal and distinctly his. It singles out the moral intelligence and superb craft of the Studio Ghibli animators in telling the heroine’s quest for identity. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/spirited-away/406407.article)
- **Sight and Sound**, Andrew Osmond (85/100, inferred): The critic hails the film as a richly detailed fantasy embedded in Miyazaki’s personal universe, with universal fairy-tale appeal. He singles out the message of empowerment through labour as Chihiro builds identity and purpose via her work in the bathhouse. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/gods-monsters-spirited-away-reviewed-2003)
- **Total Film** (85/100, inferred): The review hails Spirited Away as a fresh, fantastical experience that will feel bizarre yet rewarding to British audiences accustomed to Disney fare. It singles out the fluid, organic animation and the empathetic character journey of Chihiro for particular praise. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/spirited-away-review/)
- **Variety**, Derek Elley (80/100, inferred): The magic of the original survives intact in the re-voiced version. Miyazaki’s comic touches and astounding flights of fantasy still win the day in this charming fantasy with substance. [Read](https://variety.com/2002/film/awards/spirited-away-1200546082/)
- **Slant Magazine**, Ed Gonzalez: The critic praises Miyazaki's imaginative reimagining of Alice in Wonderland as an Asian folk dream, highlighting the textured and exhilarating set pieces like bathing the Stink God, and notes its celebration of individualism and nature. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/spirited-away/)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw: The critic calls it a beautifully drawn and wonderfully composed work of art that takes viewers on a rocket-fuelled flight of fancy with tenderly conceived characters. The superb hand-drawn animation combines hallucinatory fantasy with psychological acuity, wit, playfulness and charm, making the masterpiece claim plausible. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2003/sep/12/spirited-away-review)
- **The New York Times**, Elvis Mitchell (Critic’s Pick): The film is an epic and marvelous anime fantasy with a towering, lost dreaminess. Miyazaki conjures phantasmagoric, shifting morality of dreams unlike any other animator. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/20/movies/film-review-conjuring-up-atmosphere-only-anime-can-deliver.html)
- **Eye for Film**, Angus Wolfe Murray (85/100, inferred): The critic praises the film's strong power of invention and how its visual imagery matches the plot's unique vision. Chihiro's vulnerable, trusting innocence is singled out as unforgettable and deeply affecting at the center of this mythical journey. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/spirited-away-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray)

## Details

- **Director:** Hayao Miyazaki
- **Director:** Hayao Miyazaki
- **Screenplay:** Hayao Miyazaki
- **Cinematography:** Atsushi Okui
- **Editor:** Takeshi Seyama
- **Music:** Joe Hisaishi
- **Producer:** Toshio Suzuki
- **Cast:** Rumi Hiiragi as Chihiro (voice); Miyu Irino as Haku (voice); Mari Natsuki as Yubaba / Zeniba (voice); Takashi Naito as Father (voice); Yasuko Sawaguchi as Mother (voice); Tatsuya Gashūin as Aogaeru (voice); Ryunosuke Kamiki as Boh (voice); Yumi Tamai as Rin (voice)
- **Runtime:** 2h 05m
- **Certificate (MPA):** PG
- **Release (the US):** 18 October 2025
- **Genres:** Animation, Family, Fantasy
- **Also in:** [Golden Bear winners](https://film.one/collections/golden-bear.md) (Winner, 2002)
- **Budget:** $19 million
- **Box office:** $275 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAp2_0JJskk

## Where to watch in the US

- HBO Max: streaming
- Amazon Prime Video: add-on
- Hulu: add-on, hd
- The Roku Channel: add-on, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.59, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $11.99, sd

*Checked 2026-09-14.*

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, AZ, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IS, IT, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Academy Awards 2003: Best Animated Feature (won)
- Annie Award for Best Animated Feature 2002: Annie Award for Best Animated Feature (won)
- Berlin International Film Festival 2002: Golden Bear (won)
- Critics' Choice Awards 2002: Best Animated Feature (won)
- European Film Award for Best Non-European Film 2002: European Film Award for Best Non-European Film (nominated)
- Animation Kobe Theatrical Film Award 2001: Animation Kobe Theatrical Film Award (won)

## If you liked this

- *My Neighbour Totoro* (1988), Fi1m 89: Miyazaki gives childhood uncertainty a gentler setting, without dismissing its fears. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/my-neighbor-totoro.md)
- *The Snow Queen* (1957): Hand-drawn enchantment with cold edges, and a young heroine worth following.
- *The Spirit of the Beehive* (1973), Fi1m 87: A darker companion, with a child’s imagination confronting an unsettling adult world. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-spirit-of-the-beehive.md)
- *Song of the Sea* (2014), Fi1m 82: Folklore and family sorrow share drawings that reward a patient eye. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/song-of-the-sea.md)
- *A Little Princess* (1995), Fi1m 84: Another resourceful girl faces unkind authority, with imagination helping her endure. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/a-little-princess.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/spirited-away