TIFF 2015 Review | ‘The Boy and the Beast’ is Best of the Fest

Consider, if you will, all of the movies you have seen that have a message. “Be excellent to each other.” “Don’t start wars.” “Addiction is not a good thing.” And so on. Over the course of a lifetime you may discover that there are only so many lessons that most films try to teach us, and while we may appreciate these ongoing efforts, the majority of those finger wags don’t open our minds anymore. 

Which is why master filmmakers like Mamoru Hosoda are such a godsend. Hosoda has spent the last decade producing fantasy films that entertain, and joyously, but explore unusual facets of the human experience. In Summer Wars, Hosoda envisioned a society brought together via technology and social media while most other storytellers foretold only our isolation and doom. In The Girl Who Leapt Through Time he envisioned a young woman who used time travel to micromanage her daily affairs and became trapped by her anxiety over controlling future events. Mamoru Hosoda finds the intimacy in the fantastic, and The Boy and the Beast is the latest, wonderful example.

Filled with rage and hopelessness after the death of his mother, and unable to locate his absentee dad, nine-year-old Kyuta runs away from home and into the arms of a Kendo master anthropomorphic bear named Kumatetsu. Because it turns out that underneath the city of 21st century Tokyo there lies a feudal world of beasts, who live simpler lives under the rule of a kindly rabbit lord, who soon plans to reincarnate into a god and leave his people under the rule of either Kumatetsu, who is an absolute cad, or Iozen, a boar with a nobler reputation.

It all makes sense when you’re watching it, I promise.

Kumatetsu grunts and lumbers and fights for no reason other than screw ‘em all, and he doesn’t even want to be a lord. He just wants to rub Iozen’s smug know-it-all face in failure. But in order to do so he must first take an apprentice, and Kyuza – who is nothing if not a comparable pain in the ass – is the perfect candidate. Because no one else wants Kumatetsu to teach them anything. He is a loser who just happens to be a great fighter, devoid of philosophy and any emotional connection to his fellow creatures.

You may be able to predict where The Boy and the Beast is going. I know I sure did. But I had no idea how Mamoru Hosoda’s imaginative film was going to get there. The saga of Kyuta and Kumatetsu training each other to become better fighters, and simultaneously better people/beasts, has to conclude with the two of them growing up and fighting Iozen at some point. It didn’t have to take a detour into the complex decisions that arise when a young man leaves the nest, and the impact a son forging his own path has on the father(s) he is destined to leave behind. It didn’t have to ponder, and effectively answer, the age-old question of “What is strength?” It didn’t have to do anything but be a heartwarming adventure.

So how beautiful it is, then, that The Boy and the Beast runs such a breathless gamut of excitement and thoughtfulness, coming to rich and difficult conclusions about the nature of family ties and the significance of becoming an individual. Mamoru Hosoda’s film is a sightseeing tour of incredible wonders – it features images I have never before witnessed on screen – but it makes its biggest impression by uncovering lovely secrets about the human soul.

The messages in The Boy and the Beast only complement its entertaining tale. So what are those messages? What exactly did I learn from Hosoda’s film that might very well make me a better person? Sadly, I can’t really say. It’s the end of the movie, and I wouldn’t want to ruin the discovery for anybody else. Let it suffice that The Boy and the Beast is a potent reminder that none of your most important battles are won alone. This movie filled a hole in my soul.

Images via Mongrel Media

William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and watch him on the weekly YouTube series Most Craved and What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.

The Best of TIFF 2015 | Exclusive Reviews, Interviews and Videos