The Red Turtle

Gorgeously animated, this wordless story about a stranded castaway pays tribute to what's most important in life: companionship, love, family, and the stewardship of nature. The man on the island starts off like Tom Hanks in Cast Away, desperate to get off the island. But unlike other stories about shipwrecked heroes, this main character loses his compulsion to escape once a companion magically appears. At that point, the island, like the turtle, transforms from something frightening and even predatory into something beautiful and welcoming -- a home instead of a prison.

It's clear why director Michael Dudok de Wit managed to impress Studio Ghibli into producing his debut feature. Yes, it's wordless (although there are plenty of little groans, grunts, and sounds), but it's still incredibly expressive. The animation is stunning: The evocative expressions on the three characters' faces, the vivid seascape, and the tiny gestures the humans make toward one another and the sea creatures that share their island home are all lovely. The final third of The Red Turtle will resonate especially well with parents, as they witness the inevitable way the son wants to launch out on his own. Some viewers may fixate on the magical realist way the turtle the man killed became the woman he loved for the rest of his life, but it's actually a fitting tribute to how love can grow out of even the bleakest of circumstances.