In which the Mister and Monsters join me in reviewing BELLE (2021) which is currently streaming on HBO Max. The film, written and directed by Mamoru Hosoda, follows Suzu, a shy young woman trying to navigate life as a teen and the crushing loss of her mother when she was a little girl; a hurt she still carries with her. The story follows her as she joins "U", a virtual world that let's users be whoever they want to be. During this time she learns to come into her own as her "U" persona is a very popular girl named Belle who's charmed the virtual world with her beauty and song. Here she encounters The Beast/Kei, a persona who has obviously suffered much trauma. She reaches out to him and soon is pulled into a very serious in real life situation that involves child abuse. The film has a run time of 2 h 1 m, and is rated PG. Please note there are SPOILERS in this review.
Opening intro music: GOAT by Wayne Jones, courtesy of YouTube Audio Library.
