Song of the Sea is a 2014 Irish animated fantasy film.
We start off by seeing a young boy, Ben and his family. His mom, who is pregnant with his new sister, tucks her son into bed and hands him a seashell telling him he will hear the song of the sea. As he falls asleep he looks at her leaving the house in tears with drowsy eyes not really sure what is going on. From that scene we flash forward six years later. Ben is now with his younger sister, Saoirse (pronounced Seer-shuh), and his dog/best friend, Cu. We learn from Ben, who isn't very nice to his sister, that Saoirse is mute. The scene shifts to Saoirse who sees a group of seals in the ocean. She is intrigued by them and starts walking towards the water. Cu starts barking and although Ben does not want to go and help her, Cu forces him, too. Ben got even more mad at Saoirse and that night he told her a scary story about the evil owl witch who takes your feelings and turns you to stone, Macha. Saoirse is of course scared, but that night after Ben falls asleep she takes his seashell and starts to play the song of the sea. Specs of light start to go around her and she follows them, they lead her to a key and a chest. Upon opening the chest, Saoirse finds a white coat and puts it on and from there the adventure begins.
This was an amazingly heartwarming movie and I think it can definitely be enjoyed no matter how old you are! It can get extremely sad at times, it can be funny, and it's definitely filled with adventure and fantasy so there's lots to take from it. It is a simple kids movie, but I think there are many lessons to learn from it. What I took from it was that you can't be blind to your feelings or else things just get worse.
Also, all the characters are great. There isn't one you will hate, they all create the story and add more to the film and you can easily connect with all of them. My favorite character was Ben, not only because he was the closest one to my personality, but also because I think in the end he really developed as a person.
The Song of the Sea itself is beautiful and I really enjoyed the artistic style of the movie. It was simple, but I really think it matched with the film itself. =) Overall, I give this movie a 9/10.
lHere's the trailer if you're interested. I highly recommend this movie.
