Suzume (voiced by Nanoka Hara in the Japanese version) is a 17 year old high school girl. On the way to school one day, she meets an exceptionally attractive young man - who asks her if there are any abandoned towns or buildings locally. She decides to follow him, and at the abandoned onsen opens a door that behaves very oddly. Things only get weirder from there ... and I think that's all I'm going to give for a plot summary.

Makoto Shinkai is possibly Japan's best Anime director - up there with Mamoru Hosoda and Hayao Miyazaki. I've seen all of his full-length films, and this is the best of the lot. "Garden of Words," "Your Name," and "Weathering With You" are all really good ... and this is better than any of them. The fantasy mechanisms by which his heroines and heroes have adventures are never subtle: this one sees Suzume chasing a talking cat, and trying to find doors that cause earthquakes in the company of an animated, talking chair. Not subtle. The artwork has been fantastic in everything he's done. But he's finally really getting somewhere with the family dynamics and his characters' emotions, and the twists and turns of the plot are elegant and enchanting. A beautiful piece of work.