Parents' Guide to Ghost in the Shell (1996)

This landmark Japanese film may seem dated in some ways, but it remains one of the most innovative and ahead-of-its-time anime movies ever. As a sci-fi work, Ghost in the Shell belongs on any "best of" lists, and as an animated feature, it also boasts fantastic animation and sequences that pushed the genre in the 1990s and showed off a cool vision of the future. Along with other classics like Blade Runner, The Matrix, Akira, Neuromancer, and Snow Crash, this film was one of the first anime films to reach U.S. theater screens.

As philosophically concerned stories go, Ghost in the Shell is a great place to start. The Major's journey of self-discovery is relatable and meditative. The world feels real, organic, and lived-in, despite its futurism, and the ways people live and how technology and cybernetic hardware have affected society all feel incredibly natural. It isn't difficult believing the world of Ghost in the Shell as a possible representation of what our future might look like. The film greatly suffers, however, in its English dub, so it's recommended that viewers watch this in the original Japanese language when possible. The English dub changes a lot in its translation and delivery. Another very real barrier is the nudity: While it's never overtly sexualized, there's still a lot of it. For older teens, this kind of depiction of the female body can prompt productive conversations about objectification and sexualization. On the other hand, the female nudity might simply reinforce the ways male filmmakers write, make, and create—intentionally or not—things for a male and straight perspective. For younger audiences, the plot might be too complicated. The film does not stop to explain itself or its world.