The Secret World of Arrietty (2010)

14-year-old Arrietty and the rest of the Clock family live in peaceful anonymity as they make their own home from items "borrowed" from the house's human inhabitants. However, life changes for the Clocks when a human boy discovers Arrietty. (imdb)
Cast and Information
Directed By: Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Written By: Hayao Miyazaki, Keiko Niwa, Mary Norton
Starring: Mark Strong, Olivia Colman, Tomokazu Miura, Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Kirin Kiki, Shinobu Ôtake, Saoirse Ronan, Tom Holland, Keiko Takeshita, Geraldine McEwan, Mirai Shida
AKAs: Arrietty (Show all 4)
- Arrietty's Song
- Kari-gurashi no Arietti
- The Borrower Arrietty
Country: Japan
Where to Stream
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The Secret World of Arrietty belongs to 24 collections
1. Studio Ghibli (collaborative: moderated by Vandelay1 - 32 stars)
2. Female protagonist (collaborative: moderated by djross - 25 stars)
3. Based on a Book (collaborative: moderated by iconogassed - 21 stars)
4. Directorial debut (collaborative: moderated by djross - 16 stars)
5. Anime (collaborative: moderated by Nanera - 10 stars)
6. Best by different standards (public: sesito71 - 6 stars)
7. Top 3000 movies with the most votes on IMDb (public: fanfic - 5 stars)
8. Cats (collaborative: moderated by djross - 4 stars)
9. IMDb Top of The 2010s (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 4 stars)
10. Coheed's Films I Need To See Or Try To Track Down (public: Coheed - 3 stars)
11. Cats (collaborative: moderated by Svengali - 1 star)
12. film puanlamalarım (collaborative - 1 star)
13. Movies that are not the only film adaptation of a book/play (public: EbelC - 1 star)
14. Available on Starz (public: Jason212 - 1 star)
15. Nostalgia Critic - Disneycember (collaborative: moderated by Phantom Nook)
16. To see (public: pcalado)
17. Films I watched in 2011 (public: jal90)
18. Filmspotting Ratings Project: Week 15 (public: PeaceAnarchy)
19. Studio Ghibli Feature Films (public: gcat)
20. 2010: Year in Review (public: polanski28)
21. animation (public: kbhrchris)
22. seen (public: gamzeknc)
23. Netflix (public: Tarnop)
24. Anime-Film (public: BurakOzturk)
Browse the full list of collections
Stars | User | Rating | |
9 | ![]() |
astrakhan | 82 85th |
Arrietty is one of those films where seeing tiny people use a clothes peg as a hair band and a leaf as an umbrella never stops being cute. Where simple things like walking up a staircase made of nails and climbing a ladder of staples seems magical and amazing. Narratively there's not very much going on, but the charming exposition of the Borrowers' living situation just about makes up for the lack of original plot ideas. With the catchy music on top, it left me wanting more of life in miniature.
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XakkMaster | 84 73rd |
Simply a joy to watch. The music and animation are beautiful. The attention to detail is something we've come to expect from Studio Ghibli and there's no shortage of intricately designed scenes here. While it's not quite as bizarrely unique or fantastical as most Miyazaki features, it's a great adaptation of the 'Borrowers' story. The message of bravery in the face of uncertainty is a little rushed, but sincere. Arrietty is a wonderful lead; a good role model for girls approaching adolescence.
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sakuragirl | 90 97th |
I loved every-single-detail. Well-animated as usual, creative, the Ghibli trademarks, i.e. animals (cat!!!), nose forms, faces are well-known friends from other Ghibli movies, giving a feeling of comfort to me as a Miyazaki fan. I especially liked music in the end fit the movie incredibly well, it definitely gives the movie a bittersweet taste with a mixture of peace and sadness, so is life... Overall, not a Miyazaki masterpiece, but still a wonderful Ghibli movie and definitely re-watchable.
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Kusanagi | 90 96th |
A practically perfect adaptation of the Borrowers, perhaps it's so impressive because this was the director's debut. The only drawback is that its so short, but that may be why its so re-watchable.
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Murray | 85 76th |
Feels more like a short story than a fully fledged movie, mostly due to the somewhat sudden ending. It's not an entirely bad thing, but as a result many aspects suffer, especially the characters who don't get enough room to develop. Nevertheless, it is beautiful and enjoyable; something to watch on a lazy, rainy day.
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4 | damil | 70 67th |
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To be honest, I was a bit underwhelmed with this Studio Ghibli film, but perhaps my expectations were too high. It was quiet and slow and I guess I just thought there'd be bigger stakes, but that's fine. It was beautiful and charming, just like I anticipated. It was cute, heartfelt and genuine and I definitely recommend it.
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Nathan S | 3 45th |
The kind of gentle, whimsical morality tale you expect from Ghibli. It doesn't thrill me quite like some of their other films, but I'll be damned if it's not some of the most beautiful animation I've ever seen. The sense of scale is amazing: small details become opulent ornaments, little sound effects are exaggerated.
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Luna6ix | 76 57th |
Lacking in one of Miyazaki's strongest qualities: imagination, but that was expected since this is an adaptation of an already well known book. The animation is still great, the story is good, and as a directorial debut Yonebayashi may indeed carry the flame for decades to come. It's a shame Ghibli lost him.
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filmfreak88 | 70 54th |
Certainly not one of Studio Ghibli's best efforts. It pales in comparison when stacked against heavyweights like Spirited away and Princess Mononoke. But it is, nonetheless, a richly detailed, refreshingly unhurried, and tenderly affecting effort despite its slightly underdeveloped themes.
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Tony Irwin | 98 97th |
Charming and mesmerising - the antidote to the noise of American cinema.
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Ytadel | 8 93rd |
Wow, what an immensely charming film. Just a great theater experience. I didn't cry because I'm a heartless monster (I sat dry-eyed through the opening of Up too), but grown adults all around me were sniffling and dabbing their eyes.
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ozymandius10 | 79 71st |
It's got the mark of most studio Ghibli films these days: gorgeous animation, an awesome score, and a simple story that feels short for whatever reason with a rushed conclusion. That comes off much more harsh than I intend though, and the movie is definitely one of the better recent Ghibli films.
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Okkervil | 71 70th |
Charming, sumptuously animated Ghibli picture. It's a little unevenly paced, and some characters and plot elements feel a bit half-baked, but the movies general warmth and likability shine through. The brilliant sound effects deserve special praise in particular, in what may not be a Ghibli classic, but is certainly still an entertaining addition to the collection.
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QuickyAPI | 72 68th |
Not the best Ghibli, but very beautifully drawn and with sound effects that really bring across the feeling of being small. Very lighthearted film.
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Bagger | 67 41st |
As is customary with Miyazaki, the heart is in the right place and the world is believeable. But unfortunately the movie never really takes off.
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bakcheia | 81 71st |
Nice and simple, but ultimately not as whimsical or moving as many of studio Ghibli's other works. This movie does show the promise in Yonebayashi's ability to direct, though.
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Corbad | 70 54th |
Arrietty is a delightful protagonist and everything is exquisitely pretty, the bobbing flowers and the sunbeams and the rain, but the script is lacking and the soundtrack (though also exquisite) never quite clicks. What's with the whimsical harps while characters are discussing extinction (and what's with characters casually discussing extinction)? Gorgeous to look at, and the story could have been something, but in the end it's a largely disappointing, if still pleasant, effort.
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cagedwisdom | 100 90th |
This charmed the shit out of me. Amazing sound design, and overall utterly adorable execution. If Ghibli continues to make films impossible not to love I'll be forced to go through their entire back catalog... What a chore.
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CloseFriend | 79 74th |
Even for Studio Ghibli, this film stands out for excellence in animation. The sound design sticks out in particular. The film does an incredible job using subtle transitions to mark shifts in scope (including ingenious use of racking focus), as well as using sound and fluid animation to convey weight and heft at two different orders of magnitude. The pacing could've used a tweak or two, and I didn't like the sudden shifts in dialog volume, but other than that, I wouldn't change a thing.
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CinematicESP | 89 83rd |
Beautifully animated, with clever visual design. The banal details of the ordinary human world become extraordinary and new. The way tension is built through sound during Arrietty's first borrowing is amazing. As bittersweet as only a Ghibli film can be.
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PeaceAnarchy | 82 67th |
A bit light with a rushed ending, but it's pretty charming and fun.
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AFlickering | 4 58th |
all lonely, endangered children making sweet, clumsy gestures in a world that tremors with dangers a thousandfold, and wonders too. it's the only romance (albeit mainly platonic) i can remember where a parent's intervention is perfectly justified and never questioned by either party; great to see a father avoiding overprotective caricature, though the mother's comical hysterics and housekeeper's sneaky villainy are rather more generic. implicit class concerns enrichen proceedings still further.
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dst7175 | 86 94th |
I watched the US version and will arnett did a great voice for the father. I really enjoyed this start to finish.
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Stradivarius | 75 51st |
Not bad, but low on the scale of Studio Ghibli releases. I'm not sure what message the film was trying to convey, if it in fact had one.
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Kortee | 88 96th |
my kids will see this one day
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DerDude | 7 63rd |
Technically marvelous in every aspect, lovingly filled with wonderful little details that are a joy to discover. I took some issue in the writing though, it stumbles in properly leading into a last act, establishes the villain very clumsily and goes nowhere with the boy's disease that it constantly feels forced to remind you off.
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_Pierre_ | 42 9th |
Pretty empty and boring. All Disney-ized.
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dwyer | 51 11th |
I can't think of any reason to recommend this film as long as the other great Miyazaki films exist. Don't rent your kids this movie; rent them one of the others. And if they become the fanboys and fangirls that many of them will, let them rent this one when they get older.
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FrankHowley | 65 41st |
Great animation, okay story.
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Wezzo | 73 33rd |
Cute, but lesser Ghibli: there's not quite the same level of emotion or mood-capture here as in many of their other titles.
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DavidJohnson | 89 90th |
Another Studio Ghibli classic. The animation is top notch as always, and so is the creativity and colors. The gimmick of them being small never really got old, no matter how many times they used small human inventions in creative ways. It was fun watching them make their ways across the house. The movie is very lighthearted, it doesn't feel like there is ever a real threat, but that doesn't stop it from being engaging. My only complaint is how the humans were so casual about the borrowers.
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PerryStroika | 54 22nd |
Lovely animation, but the main character lacks psychological definition and the story telling is not quite up to the visuals.
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JacksoK | 85 66th |
A good story with great animation and direction throughout. Studio Ghibli never disappoints.
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Trooth | 79 80th |
I have to give this movie points for not going with the super-obvious expected plot. There's quite a lot of setup in the first half of the movie to make it look like there's going to be a very predictable ending, but I had my ability to call it tested. I like the way they animated pretty realistically, and the sound design was also well done. The sound effects really give a huge sense of scale to the normal-size people and animals whenever they do things.
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1 | Protera | 90 89th |
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Touching, adorable, sweet, and generally just awesome. Easily one of my favorite movies of 2012.
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1 | sunhushin | 45 23rd |
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Studio Ghibli missed on this one. Well drawn as always, but a miss in the acting department and in the story.
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W00DY | 34 10th |
English dubbed version. Probably the least entertaining plot to come from Ghibli. It's overly sentimental throughout and lacked any of the fun scrapes that should have provided the much needed humour. Nice visuals and sounds but nowhere near what i've come to expect from Ghibli.
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hsncrspywl | 60 28th |
Charming but lacking in dramatic tension and lacking in good pacing. The first act is great and sets up a very immersive world with excellent animation and sound design, but over the course of the film this dwindles and the last part of the film ends abruptly with resolution to a relationship that didn't really feel deserved. I saw the UK dub, which was excellent, but maybe the voice acting was incongruous with the animation leading to my interpretation of the film. Fantastic art design though!
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TheEscapist | 70 46th |
Not as memorable as other Ghibli films. The story and characters are very similar to other Ghibli films, but with less things standing out. So, having seen those other Ghibli films first, this was a bit underwhelming. The animation is nice and the story and characters are decent, but the pacing is a bit off at times and it didn't feel like something truly unique.
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VengefulKBM | 50 25th |
One of the more lightweight Ghibli adaptations. Not much of interest here. Carol Burnett's random sound effects are pretty entertaining in the English dub, though.
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larmor | 69 63rd |
Cute ecological fable about what can be considered the central theme of all Miyazaki's work: the ability of different people/species to live together.
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Average Percentile 59.68% from 1591 Ratings | ![]() |