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The Deer King (2021) poster

2021 · fantasy · epic · drama

The Deer King

Directed by Masayuki Miyaji, Masashi Ando1h 53m2021

Following a brutal war, former soldier Van toils in a mine controlled by the ruling empire. One day, his solitary existence is upended when a pack of wild dogs carrying a deadly and incurable disease attack, leaving only Van and a young girl named Yuna as survivors. Finally free, the pair seek out a simple existence in the countryside but are pursued by nefarious forces. Intent on protecting Yuna at all costs, Van must uncover the true cause of the plague ravaging the kingdom—and its possible cure.

Our read: The Deer King (2021) reads as a sombre, kinetic, inventive fantasy · epic · drama entry — measured in intensity, epic-stakes in scope, measured in temperature, ambivalent in outlook.

Movie DNA

Sombre, kinetic, measured fantasy / epic, inventive in texture. Ambivalent, epic, measured.

ElsewhereIMDb6.41kRT59%Metacritic58TMDB6.7100
  • sombre
  • brisk
  • intense
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Where to watch
All options on JustWatch

Availability in the UK · via JustWatch

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Where the cast leads
DNA · twelve axes

How The Deer King feels to watch.

Each axis is scored by hand, not from votes or genre averages. The bar uses the film's own colours.

MoodHeavy ↔ Cosy
PacingSlow-burn ↔ Kinetic
IntensityGentle ↔ Extreme
WeirdnessConventional ↔ Surreal
HopeNihilistic ↔ Redemptive
StakesIntimate ↔ Epic
HumourNone ↔ Broad
RealityGrounded ↔ Fantastical
DensitySparse ↔ Twisty
WarmthCold ↔ Tender
AuteurTransparent ↔ Signature
Tonight, this looks like

What watching it is actually like.

“You want an epic Japanese anime of post-war survival, epidemic and protecting a young girl.”

ends bittersweetit stays with yousteady all the waygrips by minute 22attention 3/5earns its lengthsubtitles: full
Date nightWith friendsSoloWith parentsKids around
Heads-upgraphic violenceanimal harmchild perilsuicide theme

Skip it tonight — You cannot handle animal attacks, disease deaths or child endangerment on screen.

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Closest in the twelve-axis space, not “people also liked”. All films like The Deer King, with why →

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