Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows Shop News Showtimes

I Wish

Play trailer Poster for I Wish PG 2011 2h 8m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
93% Tomatometer 76 Reviews 85% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Forced to live apart due to their parents' separation, a sixth-grader (Koki Maeda) and his younger brother (Ohshiro Maeda) hatch a complicated plan to reunite their family.
Watch on Fandango at Home Buy Now

Where to Watch

I Wish

I Wish

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Elliptical and deliberately paced yet steadily absorbing, I Wish presents a beguiling portrait of childhood that grounds its sweetly nostalgic glow with well-rounded characters and attention to detail.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View All (76) Critics Reviews
Derek Malcolm London Evening Standard The film is long and slow but repays close watching because Kore-eda is one of Japan's best contemporary directors and he avoids sentimentality throughout. Rated: 4/5 Feb 8, 2013 Full Review Tim Robey Daily Telegraph (UK) Undeniably beguiling, but more manufactured-feeling than Kore-eda's top-drawer work. Rated: 3/5 Feb 7, 2013 Full Review David Jenkins Little White Lies The spirit of Spielberg, transplanted to the east. Bliss. Rated: 4/5 Feb 7, 2013 Full Review Dustin Chang Floating World My favorite part of the film is the static shots of inanimate objects near the end: mementos from their journey. The shots are held just long enough for us to appreciate those shared eternal moments. Feb 28, 2021 Full Review Grant Watson Fiction Machine This is such a perfectly formed gem of a film. Rated: 10/10 Oct 4, 2019 Full Review Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com Kore-eda's film hits all the right notes, but his secret weapons are his two child leads, Koki and Ohshiro Maeda. Jul 24, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (84) audience reviews
j m Why not saving a trip to Japan by watching this? Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Hearth-warming movie. Very basic, real and human wishes, not even slightly dramatic, unite these children. Their pursuit with hints of humor and marked by personal growth and a great character arch throughout the film is all I expected from another great art piece by Kore-eda. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Tim G Thoroughly pleasant, but came up short of the sublime "Shoplifters." Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 09/12/19 Full Review nefasto r This is a "tale of two cities" and two brothers, and it is a very good one. Hirokazu Koreeda has become a certainty to me: when I am in the mood for a good, quite, touching film, he is my man. "I Wish" is full of lovable characters (mostly little ones, and some big ones) and brilliant scenes. Another gem from this Japanese director, a man that can feel up with poetry every little thing he put on his films. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member This is a really sweet film... Kids' Innocence <3 Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member lovely heart warming drama from Japan Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Read all reviews
I Wish

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis Forced to live apart due to their parents' separation, a sixth-grader (Koki Maeda) and his younger brother (Ohshiro Maeda) hatch a complicated plan to reunite their family.
Director
Hirokazu Koreeda
Producer
Kentaro Koike, Hijiri Taguchi
Screenwriter
Hirokazu Koreeda
Production Co
Bandai Visual Company, East Japan Marketing & Communications Inc, Chugoku Broadcasting (RCC)
Rating
PG (Smoking|Mild Thematic Elements|Language)
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
Japanese
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 26, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA)
$146.7K
Runtime
2h 8m
Most Popular at Home Now