The Colors Within (2024) (2025)

Popular reviews

• Review by SouchieeBlanc ★★★★ 2

  POV: You want to talk about struggling with being lesbian in a catholic environment but you're a japanese director

• Review by Jam

  never wanted synesthesia more in my life

  it also kinda made me wanna learn an instrument and if you know how lazy i am that's a testament to the filmmaking

• Review by Alicia Haddick ★★★★½ 1

  Naoko Yamada is back and how I have missed her touch.

  So many ways to consider and understand this work. Coming-of-age about finding your color in the tapestry of life, and how it comes not only from self-belief but a belief and co-existence and joy of being with and embracing others/the world around you? Creativity as an outlet for expressing the self and letting yourself loose on the world with an inner truth? A queer awakening where music becomes a tool for exploring those feelings when the pressures of religion and the environment around you struggle to give you that place to explore such feelings?

  Many such ways to interpret this work, but what it comes down to is this…

• Review by Max C. ★★★★

  a deeply autistic film

• Review by yaelpollie ★★★½ 1

  I just wanna say that "Sui Kin Chi Ka Moku Dotten Amen" is a bop of a song!

• Review by Sami ★★★★½ 4

  Gorgeous, sensitive, powerful and just generally charming and fun. Not sure what I can really say here that I haven’t already talked about in relation to Naoko Yamada’s other, immensely beautiful works. Her films just speak to me on a very personal and human level, and all of her usual coming-of-age, neurodivergent, queer themes and intimate visual ideas are still fully on display: I suppose there’s also an added reflection about the importance of art/music in catharsis, self-expression and understanding oneself. I’m so glad that she’s able to take on projects like this at Science Saru—to the shock of absolutely no one, this is one of my absolute favourites of the year (worth getting an 4 hour coach for). I can’t wait to revisit it!

• Review by ian ★★★ 3

  why is born slippy on the soundtrack for this lmao

• Review by Dommy ★★★½

  LGBT but the T stands for The otherworldly power of the Theremin

• Review by TurquoiseYoshi ★★★★★

  world's first band powered exclusively by bisexuality and catholic guilt

• Review by Nyx ★★★★★

  The horrors of being lesbian and going to catholic school .

  And being in a band

• Review by AgentofSSUSteel ★★★★★ 2

  I attended the North American premiere of this film at the Animation Is Film Festival in Los Angeles, the result of the most impulsive decision and hastiest plan of my life, hatched within minutes of learning that Yamada would be making an appearance there to present the film. It was worth flying thousands of miles: this was a truly special experience.

  Before the film, Yamada told us that it was a kind, gentle film that she hoped would allow us to relax and simply feel our feelings. I felt feelings and I relaxed. She told us after the film that she feels that because of social media, social isolation, the lack of in-person, face-to-face communication that is a side effect…

• Review by Ethan a’Court ★★★½

  Some really really gorgeous animation and a general really cute vibe but my oh my we were just so extremely spoilt with A Silent Voice.

  I also think the whole “seeing peoples colours” stuff could’ve been used a bit more impactfully.