Movie · 2016 · Animation, Adventure, Family · 1h 42m · PG · English
Curator score: 8.2/10 (496.8K ratings)
Be bold. Be brave. Be epic.
Overview
Kubo mesmerizes the people in his village with his magical gift for spinning wild tales with origami. When he accidentally summons an evil spirit seeking vengeance, Kubo is forced to go on a quest to solve the mystery of his fallen samurai father and his mystical weaponry, as well as discover his own magical powers.
Ratings
Curator score: 8.2/10
IMDb: 7.7/10
Letterboxd: 3.94/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
Metacritic: 84
TMDB: 7.6/10
Director
Travis Knight
Production
LAIKA
Cast
Art Parkinson, Charlize Theron, Brenda Vaccaro, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Meyrick Murphy, George Takei, Rooney Mara, Ralph Fiennes, Matthew McConaughey, Minae Noji, Alpha Takahashi, Laura Miro, Ken Takemoto, Aaron Aoki, Luke Donaldson, Michael Sun Lee, Cary Y. Mizobe, Rachel Morihiro, Thomas Isao Morinaka, Saemi Nakamura
Curator Review
Verdict
A visually astonishing stop-motion fantasy with real emotional weight, strong mythic adventure energy, and a surprisingly moving story about memory, grief, and family. Even if the plot can feel familiar at times, the craftsmanship and atmosphere make it an easy recommendation.
Best for
fans of beautifully animated fantasy
viewers who like heartfelt family adventures
people drawn to mythic quests and folklore
audiences who appreciate stop-motion artistry
Skip if
you want a very unpredictable story
you dislike bittersweet family drama
you prefer fast, joke-heavy animated comedies
you are not in the mood for a darker fantasy tone
Overview
Kubo and the Two Strings is one of those animated films that feels handmade in the best possible way. Its stop-motion world is rich with texture and invention, from the paper-folding magic to the sweeping landscapes and creature designs. The film’s visual confidence is matched by a strong emotional core, turning a simple quest into something about inheritance, memory, and the stories families tell to survive loss.
Worth noting
What makes it stand out is how gracefully it balances wonder and melancholy. The action is vivid, the supporting characters are memorable, and the film has a genuine sense of mythic scale without losing sight of Kubo’s vulnerability. It does lean on familiar quest beats, but the artistry and sincerity carry it far beyond routine fantasy storytelling.
Bottom line
This is especially rewarding for viewers who value craft as much as narrative. It’s a showcase for animation as an expressive medium, and it leaves a lasting impression because it feels both epic and intimate at once. A beautiful film with real heart.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Josh Lewis (4★) · 2265 likes
Eyes can be manipulated, memories can be forgotten, family can betray us... but the human condition always prevails.
Evan (4★) · 1107 likes
Some of the most beautiful animation I've ever seen. The imagination and creativity behind this movie is absolutely mind-blowing.
Monkey and Beetle are forever my spirit animals.
Step aside Pixar, Laika is taking over.
davidehrlich (4.5★) · 1068 likes
Staggeringly beautiful and immensely true, the best animated film of 2016 — one of the year’s best films of any kind, really — is a stop-motion fable about a one-eyed boy in mythical Japan that was made by a team of gifted visionaries in an Oregon warehouse. Laika, the independent studio behind morbid enchantments like “Coraline” and “ParaNorman,” has already established itself as a formidable bulwark against the ever-accelerating onslaught of computer-generated 3D cartoons, but “Kubo and the Two Strings” makes even the most painstaking of their previous movies feel like a trial run.
READ THE FULL REVIEW ON INDIEWIRE
liam f (4★) · 960 likes
my favourite thing about this film has to be the fact that your fate could literally be determined by how epic your guitar solo is
James (Schaffrillas) (3★) · 943 likes
It's not great, it's not terrible. Some absolutely stunning animation anchors an aggressively predictable and mediocre story with a really annoying side character. It's fine but I really don't anticipate checking it out again