I will never understand why Netflix doesn’t promote their original productions that are actually good. Are they hoping for the word to mouth will help users find quality series and films? If yes, then here I am doing that. If not, their loss in my win because I get to talk about Call Me Chihiro without any filter from the streaming service.

The story follows a young and charming woman named Chihiro. We know from the beginning she used to be a sex worker but now lives in a small seaside city, selling bento (Japanese lunch boxes). Her outgoing personality and easy smile is infectious but it’s clear she also has a rich inner life. Chihiro goes around town making friends. A collection of lost souls, each with their own issues, brought together by her. Her life experience allows her to read a room and people with ease, and she’s mainly a listener but when he shares her thoughts you soon can see she’s wise beyond her age and is able to help others.

Despite her constant kindness towards others, Chihiro’s existence is stray-like and detached. She doesn’t shy away from relationships with others but she doesn’t exactly share herself fully. There’s a loneliness and resignation about her. She knows she is not leading a happy life but more like a collection of happy moments and that’s fine with her.

Call Me Chihiro is a fairly quiet little movie, about every day life and the people who make up our world. This isn’t a grand epic, with huge scenes of spectacle, it is very much a calm, occasionally sedate story from start to finish. At times its rhythm reminded to the waves of the ocean, constantly and endlessly reaching the shore. Sometimes calm and peaceful, others more harsh. On this, Call me Chihiro is the quintessential Japanese film about shading appreciating the small gestures and accepting everyone, no matter how poor or rich their background because in the end none of that matters. It’s your actions that speak volumes about the kind of person you are.

Arimura Kasumi remains, to me, one of the most interesting and talented Japanese actress working today. She certainly knows how to carry a story but also when to let others shine. The character of Chihiro could have easily end up being a rather flat but thanks to Arimura’s performances we easily accept her and are willing to go with her on this journey of self discovery and worth. By the final scene of the movie, we understand Chihiro’s decisions and loneliness. Most importantly why, by the end, she is ready to start anew.