Review by kevin_robbins

Belle (2021) is a movie my daughter and I saw in theatres the weekend it was released here in the United States. The storyline follows a futuristic social media that creates avatars of you in the universe that take on characteristics of your inner self. A shy girl who experienced tragedy that causes her to be an outcast becomes a super star once she gains access to this social media universe. She encounters a being in the universe that is tormented in a way that causes him to lash out against everyone and he has an inner strength that causes everyone in the universe to lose in fights and battles against him. Can Belle help understand and save the soul of the real life individual behind the character?

This movie is directed by Mamoru Hosoda (Summer Wars) and contains the voices of Ryô Narita (Your Name), Shôta Sometani (Themis), Tina Tamashiro (The Flowers of Evil), Toshiyuki Morikawa (Berserk) and Kôji Yakusho (13 Assassins).

The animation in this is breathtaking and the characters and universe are very well depicted. There is surprisingly a lot of depth to the writing and fantastic character development and depth. The evolution of the storyline is well portrayed and the final reveals of what is going on and why is well done and very sad. I loved the ultimate resolution and this is a movie you never want to end.

Overall this is a very unique and clever film that I would strongly recommend and score a solid 9/10.