Though anime director Mamoru Hosoda rarely diverges from his pet theme of family, the scale of his movies rises and falls like the tide. "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" (2006) was an intimate tale of high school life, "Summer Wars" (2009) dealt with the fate of the entire planet, "Wolf Children" (2012) centered around a family living in the Japanese countryside, and "The Boy and the Beast" (2015) featured an epic battle on the streets of Shibuya.

"Mirai" keeps the pattern up by going small. But while "Mirai" may be Hosoda's most compact film yet, it's also, in some ways, his most daring.

It centers around Kun (Moka Kamishiraishi), a 4-year-old boy who lives with his mother and father in the suburbs. Kun has been doted on by his parents and grandparents since childhood, but his blissful only-child existence is upended with the arrival of baby sister Mirai. Kun, devastated by his being displaced as the center of his parents' universe, lashes out by throwing tantrums and threatening to run away from home.