Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Slow
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- melancholic
- dreamy
- wistful
- quiet evening
- arthouse film night
What critics said
Critics broadly admired Bae Doona’s performance and the film’s aching visual meditation on urban loneliness, while finding its narrative diffuse and overlong.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Nozomi begins as Hideo’s sex doll and gradually encounters the loneliness and longing of the people around her.
A living inflatable doll walks through contemporary Tokyo, works in a video store, and observes everyday human behavior.
Nozomi’s inflatable body literalizes the film’s recurring concern with emptiness, desire, and the need to be filled by another person.
Nozomi experiments with life and asks fundamental questions about birth, existence, and death after becoming self-aware.
Films like Air Doll, and why
The Shape of Water
magical realism, urban alienation, and poignant contemplation of human connection
Lars and the Real Girl
quietly surreal fantasy, loneliness, and an outsider discovering emotional life
After Life
Japanese urban melancholy, speculative premise, and meditations on identity and mortality
The Science of Sleep
dreamlike humanism, existential questions, and emotionally detached city life
Movie Details
- Director
- Hirokazu Kore-eda
- Release Date
- 2009-09-26
- Runtime
- 116 min
- Rating
- 6.9 / 10 (290)
Cast
- Bae Doona
- Arata Iura
- Itsuji Itao
- Joe Odagiri
- Sumiko Fuji
- Masaya Takahashi
- Kimiko Yo
- Ryo Iwamatsu
- Tomomi Maruyama
- Miu Naraki
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Amazon Prime Video, Night Flight Plus, OVID, Eternal Family, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Air Doll about?
- A living sex doll wanders through Tokyo, learning the fragile pleasures and profound loneliness of being human.
- What is Air Doll like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Air Doll as slow, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Air Doll violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Air Doll.
- What did critics think of Air Doll?
- Critics broadly admired Bae Doona’s performance and the film’s aching visual meditation on urban loneliness, while finding its narrative diffuse and overlong.
- Which films are like Air Doll?
- Films with a similar feel include The Shape of Water, Lars and the Real Girl, After Life, and The Science of Sleep.
- How long is Air Doll?
- Air Doll runs 116 minutes.
- Where can I watch Air Doll?
- In United States, Air Doll streams on Amazon Prime Video, Night Flight Plus, OVID, Eternal Family, Amazon Prime Video with Ads.
