Film

Totem

Name: Totem
Genre: Family
Released: 2022
Cast: Lies Visschedijk, Ole van Hoogdalem, Amani-Jean Philippe, Emmanuel Ohene Boafo, Céline Camara

Drama

A Dutch-Senegalese girl searches Rotterdam for her father after her family faces deportation, guided by a magical giant porcupine that embodies her heritage. Totem blends magical realism with urgent social urgency, creating something that feels like a fairy tale happening right now. For families and anyone who wants their children to see themselves in stories about belonging, displacement, and finding strength in unexpected places.

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like a small, grounded story where a fantastical touch sits quietly beside real fear, and you enjoy a young lead who carries the whole film with stubborn practical nerve.

Skip it if the giant porcupine is a whimsical device that may jar against such a serious subject, and its brisk, thin pacing can leave heavier moments feeling underweighted.

What it asks of you: A lean ninety-three minutes, mostly winter streets and watchful silences, so it wants you patient with stillness and comfortable holding a child's unease rather than being rescued from it.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Coco2017

A visually stunning exploration of cultural inheritance and family connection, told through animation that honors its Mexican setting with genuine affection. Like Totem, it asks what we carry from our ancestors and why that matters.

But If you've already seen it, the emotional beats might feel familiar. Some find the middle section's pacing uneven.

Raya and the Last Dragon2021

An adventure film centered on a young girl protagonist searching for something essential, with genuine stakes and Southeast Asian visual language woven throughout. It shares Totem's commitment to making a child's journey feel both magical and consequential.

But The voice acting can feel uneven, and some plot points resolve too conveniently given the setup.

Spirited Away2001

A masterpiece of magical realism where a girl navigates an unfamiliar world to save her family. The animation is transcendent, and the film respects both the fantastical and the real stakes in equal measure.

But It's paced for contemplation rather than narrative momentum. Some younger viewers find it slow or genuinely unsettling.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Totem

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

A Christmas Winter Song2019

Both films use magic (or the suggestion of it) not as escape but as a language for processing displacement and family separation. Both center young protagonists learning to navigate between worlds that feel incompatible but aren't. Both trust audiences to understand without spelling everything out.

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But Almost nothing happens in conventional plot terms. It requires viewers to sit with mood and implication rather than explanation.

The Tale of The Princess Kaguya2013

A gorgeously animated meditation on belonging, displacement, and what it means to be caught between two worlds. It uses Japanese folklore to explore profound questions about identity and home.

But The pacing is extremely deliberate. It's a film that asks patience and will frustrate anyone wanting conventional story momentum.

A Monster Calls2016

A boy processing family crisis is visited by a tree creature who guides him toward understanding and resilience. It's tender, visually inventive, and treats childhood struggles with absolute seriousness.

But The emotional manipulation is quite direct, and some find the tonal shifts between whimsy and grief jarring.

The Secret of Kells2009

Gorgeously hand-animated Irish folklore adventure about a boy who discovers magic and courage. It has Totem's sense that wonder and danger can coexist, and that cultural stories contain real power.

But The art style is polarizing—some find it beautiful, others find it cluttered. The plot is relatively simple.

Song of the Sea2014

Irish folklore and hand-drawn animation combine in a story about siblings discovering their heritage and their mother's selkie nature. Achingly beautiful, with genuine peril alongside magic.

But It's quiet and contemplative, which some mistake for slow. The emotional payoff requires patience.

Wolfwalkers2020

A girl discovers a clan of magical shapeshifters in 1650s Ireland and must navigate between two worlds. Stunning animation, real historical stakes, and a protagonist who grows through the collision of her two identities.

But The animation style is distinctive but won't appeal to everyone. The ending prioritizes theme over conventional resolution.

Encanto2021

A girl from a magical Colombian family discovers her own power and what family legacy truly means. Colorful, joyful, and genuinely interested in questions of belonging and expectation.

But It's deliberately bright and cheerful, which can feel thin if you're looking for real emotional weight. The plot is relatively straightforward.

The Willoughbys2020

Both are animated films that treat children's experience of family loss and separation as genuinely important, not something to sugar-coat. Both use magical or heightened visual language to make internal emotional experience visible. Neither treats its young protagonist as passive.

Stop-motion animation, clever and genuinely funny, about children abandoned by their parents who must fend for themselves and discover what family really means. It's whimsy with real teeth, and it doesn't condescend to its young characters.

But The style is busy and visually cluttered. The humor skews towards adults, which can make it feel uneven for family viewing.

Petite Maman2021

Both films use magical encounters in natural settings to explore inheritance and family bonds in ways that bypass conventional narrative. Both center girls discovering something about their mothers and their own place in a lineage. Both are short enough to feel like a particularly vivid dream rather than a typical story.

A French film about a girl who encounters her mother as a child in the forest near her grandmother's house. Tender, strange, and absolutely unsentimental about family connection and inheritance. It moves like a dream but carries real emotional weight.

But It's cryptic and doesn't explain its own logic. Some find it frustratingly vague; others find that vagueness essential to what it's doing.