--- title: "Spirited Away: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/spirited-away/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/spirited-away" critics_score: 91 critics_reviews: 9 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): what the critics said Critics' score 91 from 9 reviews: 9 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. 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. ## Radio Times — Calum Baker Rating 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 the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-3c5ncb/spirited-away/) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Rating 4/4. 20 September 2002. 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 the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/spirited-away-2002) ## The Times — Jason Solomons Rating 5/5. 11 September 2003. 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 the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/more-film-releases-zjsfzgpnfx8) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 20 September 2002. 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 the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-sep-20-et-turan20-story.html) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 26 July 2001. Festival review. 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 the review](https://www.screendaily.com/spirited-away/406407.article) ## Sight and Sound — Andrew Osmond Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 1 September 2003. 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 the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/gods-monsters-spirited-away-reviewed-2003) ## Total Film Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 12 September 2003. 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 the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/spirited-away-review/) ## Variety — Derek Elley Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 20 September 2002. 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 the review](https://variety.com/2002/film/awards/spirited-away-1200546082/) ## Slant Magazine — Ed Gonzalez 29 August 2002. 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 the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/spirited-away/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw 12 September 2003. 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 the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2003/sep/12/spirited-away-review) ## The New York Times — Elvis Mitchell Rating Critic’s Pick. 20 September 2002. 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 the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/20/movies/film-review-conjuring-up-atmosphere-only-anime-can-deliver.html) ## Eye for Film — Angus Wolfe Murray Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 11 September 2003. 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 the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/spirited-away-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/spirited-away.md