Overview
A heartwarming tale of love that transcends time and loss, as a family awaits a miraculous reunion.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- tender
- wistful
- melancholic
- rainy day
- quiet evening
What critics said
The film is broadly regarded as a tender, emotionally affecting romantic fantasy that treats grief, memory, and farewell with gentle restraint.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Mio's diary, discovered in Yuji's time capsule, provides her version of the couple's relationship and clarifies the central mystery.
Mio reappears during the rainy season, fulfilling the promise of the picture book while making reunion inseparable from renewed loss.
Yuji believes his birth contributed to Mio's death, linking his grief to self-blame and the family's need for reassurance.
The returning woman is found sheltering from rain, and the rainy season structures the family's fragile period of reunion.
Films like Be with You, and why
The Lake House
shared themes of grief, enduring love, family bonds, and supernatural reunion
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
shared wistful romance, memory, loss, and emotionally heightened fantasy
A Brief History of Time Travel
shared tender family drama, parental devotion, magical realism, and tearjerker sentiment
Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World
shared Japanese romantic melodrama, restrained fantasy, and bittersweet reflections on separation
Movie Details
- Director
- Nobuhiro Doi
- Release Date
- 2004-10-30
- Runtime
- 119 min
- Rating
- 7.5 / 10 (94)
Cast
- Yuko Takeuchi
- Shido Nakamura
- Akashi Takei
- Yōsuke Asari
- Chihiro Ohtsuka
- Yuta Hiraoka
- Mikako Ichikawa
- Katsuo Nakamura
- Fumiyo Kohinata
- YOU
Common questions
- What is Be with You about?
- A grieving father and his young son welcome a mysterious woman who seems to be the wife and mother they lost, finding fragile renewal in an impossible reunion.
- What is Be with You like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Be with You as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Be with You violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Be with You.
- What did critics think of Be with You?
- The film is broadly regarded as a tender, emotionally affecting romantic fantasy that treats grief, memory, and farewell with gentle restraint.
- Which films are like Be with You?
- Films with a similar feel include The Lake House, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, A Brief History of Time Travel, and Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World.
- How long is Be with You?
- Be with You runs 119 minutes.
