When Marnie Was There
Movie, 2014, The 2010s, Set in A marsh house in Hokkaido
When Marnie Was There is #22 of 25 in release order and #22 of 25 in chronological order in the Studio Ghibli.
The story
Upon being sent to live with relatives in the countryside due to an illness, an emotionally distant adolescent girl becomes obsessed with an abandoned mansion and infatuated with a girl who lives there - a girl who may or may not be real.
When Marnie Was There recap
When Marnie Was There (2014) follows Anna Sasaki, a lonely 12-year-old foster child in Hokkaido, who befriends a mysterious girl from a marsh mansion. Hiromasa Yonebayashi co-wrote and directed this adaptation of Joan G. Robinson's English novel, his last film for Ghibli. Sent away for her asthma, Anna (Sara Takatsuki) stays with relatives of her foster mother Yoriko in a fishing town and feels drawn to the house across the marsh, which seems familiar. At the Tanabata festival she meets Marnie (Kasumi Arimura), who appears only at the mansion and asks that they keep their meetings secret. Marnie invites her to a party, tells her about neglectful parents and cruel maids, and Anna admits she found papers showing her foster parents are paid to keep her. A new family moves into the mansion, and their daughter Sayaka finds Marnie's old diary.
When Marnie Was There ending explained
When Marnie Was There ends with an old painter, Hisako, telling Marnie's life story: an unhappy marriage cut short, a daughter named Emily who grew estranged and died in a car crash, and a granddaughter Marnie raised until her own death. Yoriko brings a photo of the mansion that belonged to Anna's grandmother, and Anna sees Marnie's name on the back. She calls Yoriko "mother" for the first time, and sees Marnie waving from the window as she leaves.
Where to watch When Marnie Was There
When Marnie Was There is streaming on HBO Max in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 7.6/10, Rotten Tomatoes 92%
Where it fits
- Release order: after The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, before The Red Turtle.
- Chronological order: after The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, before The Red Turtle.
Cast
- Sara Takatsuki as Anna Sasaki (voice)
- Kasumi Arimura as Marnie (voice)
- Nanako Matsushima as Yoriko Sasaki (voice)
- Susumu Terajima as Kiyomasa Oiwa (voice)
- Toshie Negishi as Setsu Oiwa (voice)
- Ryoko Moriyama as Elderly Lady (voice)
- Kazuko Yoshiyuki as Nanny (voice)
- Hitomi Kuroki as Hisako (voice)
- Hiroyuki Morisaki as Art Teacher (voice)
- Takuma Otoo as Neighborhood Association Officer (voice)
- Hana Sugisaki as Sayaka (voice)
- Bari Suzuki as Elderly Lady 2 (voice)
Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi.