Film review: Kensuke’s Kingdom is a deceptively simple Studio Ghibli-like animation starring Cillian Murphy

Kensuke's Kingdom is an adaption of Michael Morpurgo's book

• Kensuke's Kingdom
• ★★★☆☆
• Cinematic release 

Swept overboard during a storm whilst sailing around the world with his Mum (voiced by Sally Hawkins), Dad (Cillian Murphy) and sister Becky (Raffey Cassidy), young Michael (Aaron McGregor) washes up on the shores of Kensuke's Kingdom (PG), an island jungle paradise that teems with exotic creatures.

None, however, are more exotic than Kensuke (Ken Watanabe) himself: a Japanese sailor marooned on the island since the end of the Second World War, the gruff Kensuke reluctantly takes Michael under his wing and teaches him how to survive.

Adapted from Michael Morpurgo’s book by Frank Cottrell Boyce, and directed by Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry, this boasts a classically uncluttered animated style that befits the story’s theme of learning how to live with the natural world rather than fighting against it.

But is it really possible to practise a Zen-like philosophy when a crude humanity seems bent on wholesale destruction?

Beautifully drawn, but unafraid to dip into the horrors of war and the tragedy of being orphaned at a young age, Kensuke’s Kingdom is a deceptively simple Studio Ghibli-like animation.