I Wish

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I Wish

PG

2011

2h 8m

Comedy

Drama

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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

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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

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Grant Watson

Fiction Machine

This is such a perfectly formed gem of a film.

Rated: 10/10

Oct 4, 2019

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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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