Wolf Children

“How on earth do wolf children grow up?”

Arguably the greatest animated film about motherhood and single parenting, Wolf Children imagines what it would be like to have a lupine lover (go Team Jacob!), have children, and raise them all by yourself. When university student Hana falls in love with a mysterious young man, she discovers he is the last of his kind: a wolf who can shift between human and animal form. Their joyful life is cut short, leaving Hana to raise their two wolf children on her own. Yuki is strong-willed and curious, while Ame is more reserved. But both are torn between the call of the wild and humankind. From small city apartments to Japan’s majestic countryside, Hana’s unwavering devotion to the happiness of her kids will make your eyes water.

Even though narrator Yuki fears this might get laughed off as a mere fairy tale, director Mamoru Hosoda has given us a grounded and deeply empathetic film, drawn from his own childhood and mother, who raised him as a single parent. The man behind modern anime classics like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, Mirai, and Belle slows the rhythm down for a richly told slice-of-life story with folkloric wonder. Despite its fantastical elements, Wolf Children feels as real and intimate as your own life. A lyrical meditation on love, nature, and the bittersweet necessity of letting go, it speaks about being a mother, being a child, smiling against all odds, and finding your true self along the way.