The Breadwinner (2017)

Nice to have finally seen a second Best Animated Feature nominee for the year. It had also been a while since I last saw an entire movie streaming on Netflix. Now I have an idea of what it takes to get me back in the habit.

From the beginning, things look bad for the Afghani family of preteen Parvana: They're trying to sell "the only thing of value" they have left. It gets worse when the Taliban arrests her father, Nurullah. With her older brother Sulayman dead, her younger brother Zaki still a baby, and no other male relatives in town, there is no legal option for anyone left in the household to go out in public. Parvana has her hair cut short, dresses as a boy, and works odd jobs. And despite her mother's admonition to give up hope, she plans to secure Nurullah's release one way or another.

The Secret of Kells (2009)/Song of the Sea (2014)

As with the How to Train Your Dragon series, I don't feel like I can review my most recent viewing without also reviewing another. SotS isn't a sequel, and even "spiritual successor" is a stretch (sorry about this sibilation), but it and TSoK have a lot of uncommon facets in, er, common. Both come from minor French-Belgian-Irish studio Cartoon Saloon, under the direction of illustrator Tomm Moore. Both work from Celtic folklore, keeping it simple enough for kids, and have Brendan Gleeson as their best-known voice actor. Both star a prepubescent human boy and a youthful female sprite, with a pet tagging along for good measure. Both have beautifully haunting music and a captivating 2D style that manages to be cartoony and artsy at the same time. Both have been nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards, and I don't expect SotS to win either. With so little brand recognition, they're inherent niche players, however undeservedly.