On an island in Ireland lives Conor (Brendan Gleeson), a lighthouse keeper and his pregnant wife Bronagh (Lisa Hannigan), with their toddler son Ben (David Brawle). All is well, until Bronagh gives birth and then mysteriously vanishes that same night into the ocean, leaving Conor, Ben and newborn daughter Saoirse behind. Fast forward six years, and Conor is emotionally destitute, Saoirse is a mute, and Ben is sullen and blames her for their mother's disappearance. Then, on Saoirse's birthday, their strict grandmother (Fionnula Flanagan) visits them, despite thinking they shouldn't be raised in a lighthouse. That night, after Ben scares Saoirse with the Irish legend of Mac Lir and his mother Macha, who stole his feelings and turned him to stone, Saoirse is revealed to be a selkie: a human who can shapeshift into a seal. Shortly after this discovery, on Halloween Ben and Saoirse inadvertently embark on a journey to a fantastical land which way hold the secrets behind their mother's disappearance.
This Irish-Belgian Oscar-nominated co-production initially enchanted me, but became rather like chewing gum: it lost its flavour quite soon for me. It is breathtakingly animated, but narratively I found it increasingly by-the-numbers and even shallow. That's both because of how I feel it was told, and how many family films I've seen - and loved - earlier which also explore themes of ancestry and mythology (like Coco, Where the Wild Things Are and The Red Turtle), so maybe had I seen this before all those it would've done what those others did for me, but in seeing it afterwards it ultimately just felt hackneyed for me. I also feel it had room for some humour and especially a classical Irish score, both of which director Tomm Moore and screenwriter Will Collins forewent. Song of the Sea deserves praise for bringing Celtic mythology to a mainstream audience, but hopefully the next movie to cover that fascinating subject will do so with more depth, distinctiveness and charm. 6/10.
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