Song of the Sea Movie Review

Song of the Sea (2014)

Rent Song of the Sea on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Will Collins (screenplay by), Tomm Moore (based on an original story by)
Directed by: Tomm Moore
Starring: David Rawle, Brendan Gleeson, Lisa Hannigan
Rated: PG
Watch the trailer

Plot
Ben, a young Irish boy and his little sister, Saoirse, a girl who can turn into a seal, go on an adventure to free the fairies and save the spirit world.

Verdict
It's a fairy tale full of magic and creatures. It's fun, built on a well plotted tale of family, grief, and love. You can't help but like this as it's so endearing. Ben overcomes the resentment of his sister to save her from a witch, but the witch is grieving her own son. While her actions are harmful, it's not out of malice which gives us sympathy for all the characters. On top of that the art style is fantastic, reinforcing the nature of  the fairy tale.
Watch It.

Review
This is part of Tomm Moore's Irish Folklore Trilogy, consisting of The Secret of Kells (2009) and Wolfwalkers (2020).

A young boy, Ben, and his mute younger sister Saoirse, live with their father in a lighthouse. Ben resents his younger sister for the attention she receives from their father, and he blames her for their mother's disappearance.

The stories of the trilogies are based on folklore and the animation style lends itself to that aesthetic as it mixes hand drawn and computer generated animation to add depth. It looks great, and it feels like watching a story book. It also doesn't look like any other contemporary animations.

Ben

Saoirse finds a key and subsequently a chest that contains a seal skin coat. It turns her into a seal, but I wasn't sure if it was the coat alone or the coat along with a preternatural aspect of Saoirse. Apparently, after researching the answers, Saoirse has the power and the coat helps her unlock it. Saoirse swims in the sea with the seals, but when she returns to shore, her father takes the coat, locks it up, and throws the chest in the sea. With that reaction, he knows what's going on. Was his wife also a selkie, a mythological creature that can shapeshift between seal and human?

Saoirse and Ben

Their grandmother takes them to her home in the city, stating a lighthouse is no place to raise children. The kids don't like it, and Ben endeavors to get back to his home and dog. Saoirse joins him, but she's captured by what are basically elves. They think Saoirse can help them with her selkie song. Ben and Saoirse end up on quite the adventure. Ben must save his sister from a witch, but we learn that the witch isn't directly malevolent. She wants to spare others from sorrow and grief. Her method is the problem, as her solution is to remove all emotions. She can't face her grief, turning others to stone to prevent any future suffering. What she's done isn't right, but we at last understand the why. That makes her a powerful character. She's misplaced her grief and has a misguided endeavor to save others.

Ben saves his sister and the witch. In turn Saoirse manages to save all the magical creatures that had been under the witches spell. All three movies in the trilogy are fairy tales brought to the screen. The art style builds on that. It's a simple story with a lot of depth, and an endearing art style.