12 Movies In The IMDB Top 250 You've Probably Never Seen
11. Spirited Away
Studio Ghibli are well-known for their consistent mixture of gorgeous animation and heartfelt narrative, and Spirited Away is one of their finest examples of that winning combination.
Their eleventh feature tells the story of Chihiro, an energetic ten-year-old girl who inadvertently enters the spirit world, has her parents transformed into pigs, and takes a job in a bathhouse in order to find a way to free them.
There will always be something inherently strange about Japanese animation to Western audiences, and Spirited Away is no different - there's a man with six arms who works in the boiler room of the bathhouse, and that facility is also home to a group of Sootballs, small black creatures that look like balls of soot... with arms and legs.
But it's all done with such whimsy, such awareness and such heart that all it does is give the film a one-of-a-kind, distinctive personality.
The fantastical elements are also grounded by a simple story with a clear objective - Chihiro wants her parents back in human form - so you just accept everything as a means to an end, as another part of the journey Chihiro is embarking on.
The film can be viewed with either its original Japanese dialogue track or a John Lasseter-supervised English dub, and both those versions are equally as enjoyable to watch.
Either way, stick it on your watchlist if you haven't already!