Angel's Egg (1985)

Original title

天使のたまご

Directed by

Mamoru Oshii

Genre

drama film, thriller anime, arthouse science fiction film, drama anime and manga, fantasy anime and manga

Country

Japan

Runtime

1h 11m

Rated

NR

Rating

7.7 of 10 from 597 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A young girl protects a mysterious egg in a dark, post-apocalyptic world. She meets a boy who tells her about a dream he had of a bird.

slow-burndreamlikemelancholicquietmysteriousatmosphericbleakunsettling

What happens

Angel's Egg (Japanese: 天使のたまご, Hepburn: Tenshi no Tamago) is a Japanese animated experimental post-apocalyptic science fantasy OVA film written and directed by Mamoru Oshii. Released by Tokuma Shoten on 15 December 1985, the film was a collaboration between artist Yoshitaka Amano and Oshii. The film stars two nameless characters, a young girl who protects an egg, who bonds with a boy who has a dream about a bird. It was the first original project by Oshii and carries themes found in his other works. In a radical departure from Oshii's previous work, Angel's Egg features little spoken dialogue, with a heavily allegorical story steeped in ambiguous imagery and recurrent Biblical allusions. The film originally struggled financially upon release with many viewers being confused over its supposed meaning, but it has since received acclaim as a cult classic. A 4K remaster commemorating the film's 40th anniversary was screened at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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