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The Sea of Trees

The Sea of Trees

Drama · 2016

In Japan's Aokigahara Forest, a troubled teacher meets a mysterious lost stranger who takes him on a life-changing journey of love and redemption.

Movie details

The Sea of Trees

“Love will bring you home.”

2016 Drama 1h 50m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.2 / 10

Community rating

In Japan's Aokigahara Forest, a troubled teacher meets a mysterious lost stranger who takes him on a life-changing journey of love and redemption.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Sea of Trees?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Here

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The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

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Harold Fry is an unremarkable man who has made mistakes with all the important things: being a husband, a father and a friend. And now, well into his 60s, he is content to fade quietly into the background of life. Until, one day – Harold learns his old friend Queenie is dying. Harold leaves home, walking to his post office to send her a letter. And out of the blue, Harold decides to keep walking, all the way to her hospice, 450 miles away.

Leave No Trace

Leave No Trace

Drama · 2018

A father and daughter live a perfect but mysterious existence in Forest Park, a beautiful nature reserve near Portland, Oregon, rarely making contact with the world. But when a small mistake tips them off to authorities, they are sent on an increasingly erratic journey in search of a place to call their own.

Tigertail

Tigertail

Drama · 2020

A man reflects on the lost love of his youth and his long-ago journey from Taiwan to America as he begins to reconnect with his estranged daughter.

Big Eyes

Big Eyes

Drama · 2014

In the late 1950s and early '60s, artist Walter Keane achieves unbelievable fame and success with portraits of saucer-eyed waifs. However, no one realizes that his wife, Margaret, is the real painter behind the brush. Although Margaret is horrified to learn that Walter is passing off her work as his own, she is too meek to protest too loudly. It isn't until the Keanes' marriage comes to an end and a lawsuit follows that the truth finally comes to light.

The Starling

The Starling

Drama · 2021

A woman adjusting to life after a loss contends with a feisty bird that's taken over her garden — and a husband who's struggling to find a way forward.

Fathers and Daughters

Fathers and Daughters

Drama · 2015

A Pulitzer-winning writer grapples with being a widower and father after a mental breakdown, while, 27 years later, his grown daughter struggles to forge connections of her own.

The Music Never Stopped

The Music Never Stopped

Drama · 2011

Henry struggles to bond with his estranged son, Gabriel, who suffers from a brain tumor that prevents him from forming new memories. With Gabriel unable to shed the beliefs and interests that caused their physical and emotional distance, Henry must learn to embrace his son's choices and try to connect with him through music.

Bambi

Bambi

Animation · 1942

Bambi's tale unfolds from season to season as the young prince of the forest learns about life, love, and friends.

Upstream Color

Upstream Color

Drama · 2013

A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the lifecycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Gus Van Sant

Written by

Chris Sparling

Matthew McConaughey

Matthew McConaughey

Arthur Brennan

Ken Watanabe

Ken Watanabe

Takumi Nakamura

Naomi Watts

Naomi Watts

Joan Brennan

Katie Aselton

Katie Aselton

Gabriella Laforte

James Saito

James Saito

Dr. Takahashi

Owen Burke

Owen Burke

Ambulance Tech

R

Ryoko Seta

Airport Desk Agent

Court is in session

Put The Sea of Trees on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.