I Wish

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I Wish

PG

2011

2h 8m

Comedy

Drama

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Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

93%

Tomatometer

76 Reviews

84%

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.

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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.

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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

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Tim Robey

Daily Telegraph (UK)

Undeniably beguiling, but more manufactured-feeling than Kore-eda's top-drawer work.

Rated: 3/5

Feb 7, 2013

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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

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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

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Tim G

Thoroughly pleasant, but came up short of the sublime "Shoplifters."

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

09/12/19

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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

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Audience Member

This is a really sweet film... Kids' Innocence <3

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

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Audience Member

lovely heart warming drama from Japan

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/15/23

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Audience Member

Charming story of two brothers apart from each other, however it is slow and takes a long time to get to the crux of the plot.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

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Hirokazu Koreeda

Director

Koki Maeda

Koichi

Ohshiro Maeda

Ryunosuke

Ryôga Hayashi

Tasuku

Kyara Uchida

Megumi

Kanna Hashimoto

Kanna

Critics Consensus: Dark Shadows Doesn’t Scare Up Enough Laughs

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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

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