'Deep Sea' Review: Refreshing, Weird Chinese Animation Scores

Creeping quietly onto Peacock TV, the family-friendly film is surprisingly good. Adults may enjoy it best

Now Streaming: Swept out to sea on a stormy night, Shenxiao finds herself in a massive, magical restaurant, straight out of her imagination. 

The young girl is on a cruise with her parents, who are preoccupied by her younger brother. Shen Xiao (voiced by Tengwen Wang in the original Mandarin) pulls her hoodie tight in the blustery evening and wanders off and around the cruise ship, which is bustling with activity. In the night, a fierce storm arises, and she is drawn outside her cabin to watch the furious waves. Soon she finds herself sinking into the ocean. 

It's completely disorienting. Shen Xiao is surrounded by chaos, a rush of images and sounds as she sinks further and further. Somehow, she is able to breathe under water. She encounters an oddly morphing creature called a Hyjinx, which her mother told her about in bedtime stories. Shen Xiao believes that the Hyjinx can lead her to her mother, who disappeared from her life some years before, and so that becomes her compelling belief: follow the Hyjinx and find my mother. 

That leads her to the Deep Sea Restaurant, which is overrun by a multitude of sea-creature "tourists" complaining about the food prepared by master chef Nan He (Su Xin), who seizes upon the Hyjinx as an ingredient for a soup that will make all his customers happy. One problem: Shen Xiao. She insists that she must follow the Hyjinx, who will take her to her mother. 

Thus, the groundwork is laid for a fantastical adventure, directed by Tian Xiaopeng, with his goal of combining modern computer-generated animation and traditional Chinese ink painting. 

Released in China in January 2023, the film then made the rounds on the festival circuit -- Berlin, Tribeca, Neuchatel, Melbourne, London, Philadelphia, Denver -- before opening in very limited U.S. theatrical release in November. Worldwide, it has gained very modest returns at the box office. 

In the U.S., began streaming on Peacock TV this past Friday. Note that the film is rated PG-13, and it earns its rating due to its mature themes, which truly bloom in the concluding moments and, frankly, brought me to tears. Before we get to that point, we see Nan He smoking, which is a very natural thing for a restaurant cook to do in real life, but its seldom seen in modern-day animation. 

Shen Xiao's desperate determination to find her mother becomes very telling and says a lot about her character and her situation in life, even though she is still quite young. I think that contributes greatly to the emotional impact of the movie on me, or anyone else who no longer has their mother in their life. 

Beyond that, the animation style is refreshingly different from anything produced by Disney or Pixar or Studio Ghibli, although the influence of those animation powerhouses is apparent at times. Anyone who loves animation, in general, though, will be struck by the unique and tasty soup of influences, styles, and storytelling techniques. It's definitely worth checking out. 

Note: The default is the English-language version, but I switched to the original Mandarin version with English closed-captions; English subtitles are not available. [Peacock TV]