Film

Forgotten Island

Two best friends fall through a portal on the last night before adulthood and land in Nakali, a folklore-drenched island where the toll for going home is every memory they have of each other. It's bright, funny, family-animation on the surface, but its real subject is the terror of growing apart. Best for anyone who wants a coming-of-age tearjerker dressed as an adventure.

TMDb rating7.9

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A girl trapped in a spirit world must work to win her parents back before enchantment swallows them whole — the gold standard for portal fantasies about refusing to lose who you love.

But Slower and stranger than modern animated fare; its dreamlike logic can unsettle younger viewers more than it charms them.

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Coco2017

A vibrant trip into the Land of the Dead where being forgotten is a genuine kind of dying — warm, funny, and it earns every tear it wrings out of you.

But The ending is a guaranteed cry every time; if you've watched it a dozen times already, the gut-punch has softened.

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Onward2020no page yet

Two brothers race a ticking clock on a quest that's really about holding onto a fading connection — Pixar's underrated one, with real heart beneath the jokes.

But A lesser Pixar entry that leans hard on sentiment in its back half; some find the emotional swerve a little manipulative.

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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind2004

Same central bargain as Nakali's: the memories of the person you love are the price. Here it's played straight, as heartbreak, for grown-ups who've actually lost someone.

A dazzling, sad, funny argument about whether it's better to have loved and lost the memory, or never have loved at all — the same deal Nakali offers, taken to its adult extreme.

But No animation, no adventure — a melancholy, non-linear relationship drama whose sadness lingers instead of resolving neatly.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind poster
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Encanto2021

A magical family, a house full of secrets, folklore rendered in gorgeous colour — if you want another animated world built from a specific culture's myths, start here.

But Frequent musical numbers won't land for everyone, and the plot is more domestic drama than adventure.

Encanto poster

Turning Red2022

A tender, hilarious portrait of a friendship at the exact hinge where childhood tips into something else — the messy, precious business of growing up alongside someone you love.

But Its chaotic, meme-fluent energy is divisive; some viewers find the tween humour grating rather than charming.

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Luca2021

Two friends, a hidden world, a summer that can't last forever — a gentle, sun-drenched story about love between friends that never needs romance to matter.

But Low stakes and a slight plot make it cosy rather than gripping; don't go in expecting much tension.

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The Book of Life2014

A dazzling folk-art adventure through the underworld, built on myth and memory, for anyone who wants their animated worldbuilding to feel handmade and specific.

But The romance-triangle plot is thin, and the film's frantic pace can feel busier than it needs to be.

The Book of Life poster

Kubo and the Two Strings2016

Stop-motion myth-making at its most beautiful, about a boy fighting to hold onto memory and story itself against forces that want both erased.

But Genuinely frightening in places for very young viewers, and its melancholy runs deeper than most family films dare.

Kubo and the Two Strings poster

Raya and the Last Dragon2021no page yet

A Southeast Asian-inspired quest across a fractured fantasy world, propelled by a friendship that has to survive impossible odds — colourful, big-hearted adventure done well.

But The mythology and character work are solid rather than special; it doesn't linger the way the best of these do.

Dick Johnson Is Dead2020

The premise inverts itself: instead of magic taking memories, this is a real father's memory slipping away, and a daughter using film to hold onto him before it's gone.

A documentary stranger and more moving than its premise suggests — a filmmaker staging inventive, absurd deaths for her father to help them both cope with losing him for real.

But It's about actual mortality and dementia, not fantasy — the humour is real but so is the grief, and it may land harder than expected.

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Trese2021no page yet

Drawn from the same well of Filipino folklore as Nakali — spirits, aswang, manananggal — but poured into a noir crime thriller instead of a friendship adventure.

If Nakali's folklore made you curious what's underneath it, this is the richer, real version — Manila's supernatural underworld rendered in sleek, moody anime style.

But Genuinely dark and violent in places, aimed squarely at adults — a big tonal jump from a family comedy-adventure.

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