--- title: "The Red Turtle" year: 2016 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-red-turtle" fi1m_score: 84 critics_score: 81 critics_reviews: 23 published: "2026-09-17T07:13:25.272658+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T07:13:33.577035+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." --- # The Red Turtle (2016) Directed by Michaël Dudok de Wit · 1h 21m · MPA PG · Animation, Drama, Fantasy, Family **Fi1m score: 84** · Critics 81 from 23 reviews *In a sentence:* The crabs get on with their day while the human makes everything difficult > Michaël Dudok de Wit makes a moving, occasionally over-scored island fable from spare drawings and a man’s thwarted escape. Its patience rewards attention, though the quiet stretches will not suit every family evening. ## Synopsis A man is stranded on a desert island and sets about trying to leave. A red turtle stands in his way, thwarting his efforts to escape across the sea. He has to contend with the demands of survival as well as a creature whose behaviour he cannot explain. Crabs provide smaller distractions, carrying on with their own lives while his attempts come to nothing. Told without spoken dialogue, the story follows his struggle with the island and its surrounding water, where persistence alone does not seem likely to get him far. The voice cast includes Barbara Beretta, Baptiste Goy and Tom Hudson. ## Review *The Red Turtle* asks us to spend time with a man who wants to be somewhere else. Stranded on an island, he tries to escape, and a turtle prevents him; the early struggle is simple enough to follow without a word. Michaël Dudok de Wit, who writes and directs, trusts that situation to hold our attention before asking anything more of us. It does, and this is a fine, affecting film, with a little too much musical encouragement when it could afford to leave us alone. The drawing is spare enough that the man never competes with his surroundings for attention. That makes his predicament more frightening: the sea has weight and changeable moods, while he looks ill-equipped to cope with it. We were more anxious than we expected to be during his futile attempts to leave. The animation makes his effort legible without needing detailed features, while the crabs carry on without looking especially concerned about his predicament. Much of the pleasure is in watching how little the pictures need. The line remains clear, the light changes the feel of the island, and colour keeps the surrounding water from becoming a flat expanse to be crossed. The sea is beautiful, but we never forget what it might do to the man. Michaël Dudok de Wit gives the natural world enough attention that we can understand why the man wants to escape without wishing the film would hurry him away. Céline Kélépikis’s editing gives the man’s repeated efforts time to register. There is room to recognise his determination, then to feel the frustration of seeing it fail, and the deliberate pace gives the small movements of the island’s creatures proper attention. At 81 minutes, the film is short, but its unhurried stretches can feel longer if its simple predicament has not caught our interest. We would not promise that every child drawn to an animated turtle will welcome so much time without conversation. The music is the less restrained part of the film. Laurent Perez del Mar supplies warmth and helps a story without speech communicate readily, but sometimes the score pushes a tender feeling past the point where it feels earned. The drawings are already doing enough, and the extra insistence briefly makes us conscious of being persuaded. It is a modest complaint, though an important one in a film that otherwise gives us time to respond for ourselves. The film also makes a welcome case for animation that expects concentration. It can be enjoyed as a survival story without having every encounter translated into a lesson about humanity’s place in nature. The fantasy remains strange, and anyone wanting its mysteries explained may find that frustrating. We did not need an explanation, because the early struggle for survival had made the man worth caring about. It deserves to be watched without distractions. The absence of dialogue should not be mistaken for permission to drift in and out; the small changes in a drawing deserve the same attention as an actor’s face. Children may take to its animals and its strangeness, but the leisurely pace is a real consideration, whatever the viewer’s age. We recommend it for a quiet evening, with the phones elsewhere. *Fi1m score 84, published 17 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics warmly endorse The Red Turtle, with praise centred on its spare hand-drawn animation and its ability to tell an emotionally involving story without dialogue. The reviews repeatedly admire the precise lines, light and colour, alongside the attention to nature as both a threat and a source of companionship. Many find that the meditative pacing and simple survival story allow its broader concerns with solitude, family and the cycle of life to emerge without forcing them. Agreement is strong, though enthusiasm ranges from quiet admiration to deep affection, with one sharply negative dissent. Reservations concern the thinness of the narrative, the slow pace’s appeal to younger viewers and occasional sentimentality. The Hollywood Reporter admires the animation but finds the score too sentimental and the story simplistic. The Financial Times goes further, finding little drama and weak character drawing, though it responds more favourably to the sequences at sea. ### Reviews we read (23) - **Radio Times**, Trevor Johnston (5/5): The critic praises this wordless animated feature as having the timeless certainty of an old folk tale, with meditative pacing and exquisite line-drawing. It delivers nail-biting drama, romance and profound engagement with the cycle of life in a one-of-a-kind viewing experience. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-i1d22k/the-red-turtle/) - **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan (90/100, inferred): The review calls the dialogue-free film a visually stunning poetic fable concerned with the rhythms of nature and the wonders of ordinary life. It praises the simple yet realistic animation style and how the story enlarges the spirit while delivering dramatic events. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-red-turtle-review-20161114-story.html) - **Slant Magazine**, Chuck Bowen (90/100, inferred): The review commends the film's pointed simplicity, transcendental refinement, and pared-down animation that evokes a dreamlike state and empathy with nature. It singles out the poignant transformation and poetic ending for their existential fairy-tale resonance. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-red-turtle/) - **The AV Club**, Noel Murray (A-): The review highlights the film's artful European visual style and gripping primal survival tale as a collaboration with Studio Ghibli. It notes that its elliptical and magical-realist elements may feel overly fanciful to some but ultimately deliver aesthetic beauty and emotional depth. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/it-s-man-vs-allegorical-reptile-in-studio-ghibli-s-stu-1798189512) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (90/100, inferred): The critic calls the wordless animated fable a masterpiece of rapturous minimalism, praising its sublime simplicity, ecological themes and universal cycle of life, death and rebirth expressed through crisp visual storytelling and a haunting score. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/may/28/the-red-turtle-review-studio-ghibli-masterpiece) - **Variety**, Peter Debruge (90/100, inferred): The critic describes the wordless film as a hypnotizing, pure fable that feels timeless, emerging from a unique Studio Ghibli collaboration. It highlights the simple story of a man obstructed by the red turtle and the intuitive, calm Eastern sensibility in its environmental focus. [Read](https://variety.com/2016/film/reviews/the-red-turtle-review-studio-ghibli-la-tortue-rouge-1201777707/) - **Empire**, Dan Jolin (85/100, inferred): The critic praises this dialogue-free Studio Ghibli co-production as a lush visual symphony that celebrates nature as both deadly force and source of love. It stands out as a soothing, arthouse reminder of animation's potential beyond mainstream fare. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/red-turtle-review/) - **Sight and Sound**, Kate Stables (85/100, inferred): The critic calls the film a delicate, elegant and profound desert-island fable about man's relationship to nature. She praises its spare, graceful storytelling and visual restraint as a thoughtful anomaly among contemporary animations. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-red-turtle-dream-desert-island-movie) - **Evening Standard**, Charlotte O'Sullivan (80/100, inferred): The reviewer highlights the ravishing hand-drawn visuals and sound design in this hypnotic co-production, calling it perfectly lovely for those with a taste for the strange. It evokes a childlike mindset blending solid realism with fantastical elements and features one of the best endings. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/the-red-turtle-film-review-a-magical-world-of-beauty-and-staggering-oddness-a3681086.html) - **Little White Lies**, Anton Bitel (4/4/4): The critic finds it a languorously paced, elegantly animated fable of life's cyclicality that belongs on any desert-island films list. An ecological thread runs through this delightful parable of survival and transformation. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-red-turtle) - **Screen Daily** (80/100, inferred): The critic finds the dialogue-free animated fable thoughtfully and ultimately moving, with unpretentious poetry that expands the director's short-film verve to feature length. Creative sound design, a thoughtful score and exquisite depiction of light and colour round out an unconventional visual and emotional experience. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-red-turtle-cannes-review/5104134.article) - **The Telegraph**, Robbie Collin (4/5): The critic describes the wordless co-production as a mesmerising debut feature that blooms from a survival tale into a mysterious, meditative exploration of ambition, acceptance and companionship, with a recognisable Ghibli flavour. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2016/05/18/the-red-turtle-review-studio-ghiblis-wordless-survival-tale-asks/) - **The Times** (80/100, inferred): The critic finds the dialogue-free Oscar-nominated love story strange, sparingly supernatural and gently beguiling, with Ghibli-style mystery and melancholy, subtle yet stirring in its exploration of companionship versus escape. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/article/film-review-the-red-turtle-pl99x0rgh) - **Time Out**, Joshua Rothkopf (4/5): The critic describes a gorgeous animated movie that begins as desert-island survival and evolves into something deeper, sharing Studio Ghibli's holistic belief in a wider natural world. It casts a magical spell with its elegantly spare, dialogue-free approach and luscious hues. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-red-turtle) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Jordan Mintzer (70/100, inferred): The review praises the film's minimalist fable of man bonding with nature and its exquisite hand-drawn animation influenced by Studio Ghibli. It notes the simplistic narrative may appeal most to young viewers and finds the score overly sentimental. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/red-turtle-la-tortue-rouge-888117/) - **The New York Times**, A.O. Scott (70/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a gentle, analog-style animated fable about a castaway whose life on an island is shaped by encounters with nature and the red turtle. It stands out for its spare, lyrical draftsmanship and wordless storytelling that evokes quiet magic rather than spectacle. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/movies/the-red-turtle-review.html) - **Financial Times**, Nigel Andrews (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the animated desert island fable underpowered and wan, lacking drama and with tamely drawn images and stick-figure characters, though it finds some mojo at sea. [Read](https://www.ft.com/content/72a93d46-46b8-11e7-8d27-59b4dd6296b8) - **The Skinny**, Philip Concannon (★★★★★): Praises it as a masterclass in visual storytelling with beautiful hand-drawn animation and a transcendent quality about the cycle of life. It feels timeless and suggests a bright future for Studio Ghibli. [Read](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/the-red-turtle) - **The Playlist**, Andrew Crump (A-): The critic calls it poetry made cinema and an exquisite existential allegory. They single out its layered emotion and meditative beauty despite a straightforward plot. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/animated-red-turtle-poetry-made-cinema-exquisite-existential-allegory-review-20170119/) - **Eye for Film**, Jennie Kermode (80/100, inferred): The critic praises the simple tale told through deceptively simple yet breathtaking art. They single out the evocative animation and the way it captures the moods of the sea. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-red-turtle-2016-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) - **HeyUGuys**, Stefan Pape (4/5): The critic finds it an enchanting, serene feature making for an ineffably moving experience. They single out the breathtaking animation style and stirring score for praise, while noting the minimalism might bore younger viewers. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/the-red-turtle-review/) - **Den of Geek**, Ed Williamson (4 out of 5): The critic praises the wordless storytelling that conveys themes of solitude, family, and man’s relationship with nature through nuanced details like the expressive crabs and the man’s futile efforts. The film is described as lovely and meditative. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-red-turtle-review/) - **Paste**, Dom Sinacola (7.9): The film is praised as a landmark of pure, essential animated cinema for its wordless beauty and craftsmanship, though it struggles to convey a salient narrative message. The critic singles out the painstakingly gorgeous hand-drawn animation aesthetic, achieved even with some CG elements, as a highlight worth preserving. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/the-red-turtle/the-red-turtle) ## Details - **Director:** Michaël Dudok de Wit - **Director:** Michaël Dudok de Wit - **Screenplay:** Michaël Dudok de Wit - **Editor:** Céline Kélépikis - **Music:** Laurent Perez del Mar - **Producer:** Toshio Suzuki, Isao Takahata, Vincent Maraval - **Cast:** Tom Hudson as The Son as a Young Adult (voice); Baptiste Goy as The Son as a Child (voice); Axel Devillers as The Son as a Baby (voice); Barbara Beretta as The Mother (voice) - **Runtime:** 1h 21m - **Certificate (MPA):** PG - **Release (the US):** 20 January 2017 - **Genres:** Animation, Drama, Fantasy, Family - **Box office:** $921,974 - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Wf57f5F09c ## Where to watch in the US - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, hd - Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd - Apple TV: buy $12.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $14.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AT, AU, BE, BR, CL, CO, DE, ES, FI, FR, GB, HK, IE, IN, IT, MX, NL, NZ, PA, PH, PT, SG, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Academy Awards 2017: Best Animated Feature (nominated) - Critics' Choice Awards 2016: Best Animated Feature (nominated) - European Film Award for Best Animated Feature Film 2016: European Film Award for Best Animated Feature Film (nominated) ## If you liked this - *The Naked Island* (1960): Another island struggle, with daily labour and family life observed without dialogue. - *The Black Stallion* (1979): An animal encounter and an island ordeal, given time to become absorbing. - *The Man Who Planted Trees* (1987): Patient, hand-drawn animation finds feeling in the slow work of changing a landscape. - *My Neighbour Totoro* (1988), Fi1m 89: A gentler encounter with mysterious creatures, told with patience and affection. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/my-neighbor-totoro.md) - *Flow* (2024): Wordless animal survival with a quicker pace and close attention to animal behaviour. --- © 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/the-red-turtle