My "inner demon and angel" are constantly fighting over this movie, Angel's egg. Is it good... or just pretentious?

Hello,
Last week, I watched Angel’s Egg (Tenshi no Tamago) for the third time, this time at Cinema Spoutnik in Geneva. And I still have the same problem every time:

I love this movie… and I dislike it at the same time.

Pros:
- The animation is so beautiful
- The soundtrack is soothing
- The pacing is like a bed time story
- It's deeply contemplative
- It's very poetic in it's imagery (also a con)
- I like Mamoru Osshi almost as much as I like Satoshi Kon

Cons:
- The story ends with too much poetry (what is the purpose of the final scene?)
- Very few dialogues
- Looks more Avant-garde than an animation movie (and I saw some really weird anime movies...)
- It doesn't inform you, It's contemplative and seeing so much soldiers, you expect more action
- It doesn't explain anything, it's purely fantastic and metaphorical. Like I'm lacking context (egg, skeleton, shadows, feathers, bottles) or a guide book

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Commentaires

timpkmn892026-01-03 19:01

You're allowed to have complex feelings about things

MusubiKazesaru2026-01-03 19:02

Probably both

Nomar_952026-01-03 19:10

I don't see any of your cons as a bad thing.

HowToVenusaur2026-01-03 19:10

Angel's Egg is a tough one. It's wonderfully crafted on a technical level. It's ambitious and doesn't hold your hand. It expects you to make assumptions on your own and attempt to figure it out from there. You're probably not gonna get exactly the same read on it as other people. I've talked to a few IRL friends about it and most of us come to the "It's about a loss of faith" interpretation, but it's vague enough that you can take it in any number of directions.

That being said, despite my praise for it, it's not exactly my favorite piece of film. I think I have it listed as a 5/10 on my MAL just because I would never really consider re-watching it outside of very specific circumstances, and once I remove it from more academic-style discussions, I really don't think about it much at all. It wasn't really something I "Liked".

I can respect it as a piece of work and still not really enjoy it. I don't think it is for a lot of people, or needs to be for you, something that fits neatly into "good or bad".

Unusual_Rush_11892026-01-03 19:11

In the story of Noah's Ark, humanity is washed away because of their sins and Noah boards the ark with the remnants of humanity and all life, awaiting the end of the flood. As the flood water's recede, Noah sends a bird out as a potential scout to see if there is any dry land. Eventually a bird comes back with a branch and Noah is able to resume life on earth.

In the final scene of the movie we see the entire setting of the world we witnessed appears to be Ark-shaped.

This story is sort of a metaphorical 'what if.' As in, what if the 'bird' hasn't hatched yet... or also what if it would be better if the bird never was allowed to be sent to 'find' dry land and 'save' humanity.

If it helps, the movie is definitely a nod towards nihilism and treats belief, specifically Christian belief, as a negative. I don't think you need to agree with the movie to appreciate how it deals with the weight of what it is trying to portray.

Reefer4life2026-01-03 19:23

I have a similar experience with Serial Experiments Lain although thankfully there’s plenty of online resources for me to learn from about the plot, it’s incredibly gratifying to understand more and more as you watch and to see symbolism and metaphor stronger as you go but it can also be frustrating and feel like more work than it’s worth depending on your taste and perspective.

Eg. my partner loves the animation style of Lain but he absolutely cannot wrap his head around the plot and struggles to remember simple events that happened earlier that I have to remind him of, he’s just not built for it lol.

Salty1452026-01-03 19:29

*Angel’s Egg* is an experimental arthouse movie. It’s not really something you expected to handhold you through deriving meaning from it.

Like everything you listed as cons aren’t as much cons against *Angel’s Egg* as much as telling me you might not be a huge fan of (or properly trained on) this genre.

Lord_Alviner2026-01-03 19:40

I actually enjoy experimental and arthouse films quite a lot
My tension here isn’t about handholding, but about how this film sets up certain visual expectations only to deny them entirely.

I admire the intent, but I’m still conflicted about the experience.

The Lighthouse, Perfect Blue, Memento, Midsommar are some examples of arthouse movies I enjoyed

RiRianna762026-01-03 22:09

As someone who can't stand most of those types of surrelist/plotless/poetic movies (they just whoosh right by me sorry) but ADORES this one.. Why does it matter to you? I don't mean it in a dismissive way, I'm genuinely curious, as it seems I am the reverse to you but I don't really mind. (and sometimes we find answers by understanding why we persist on those questions rather than by looking externally).

For me, the feelings and associations triggered by the "visual poetry" of the scenes were quite visceral and tacit. I remembered other times I had gotten those feelings by actual things that happened to me. And it's like I was told a pretty coherent story merely by having those feelings evocated rather than by being shown a concrete timeline of causes and effects.

Maybe people who enjoy those types of poetic narratives experiene this with all of these movies and maybe, for some reason, this particular one didn't reasonate with you so all the scenes and art feel empty and artsy for art's sake? That's usually why I'm put off from similar works.

Gamerunglued2026-01-04 00:03

I don't see a single one of your cons as a con. I find it a bit odd that you consider the film being "contemplative" as a pro but then see not knowing what the final scene means as a con. It's contemplative, so it wants you to contemplate it. I think it's fine to not know what it means. It's a confusing film, confusion is just another emotion a film can evolve in the same way it can evoke sadness or anger or joy. Life can be confusing, so you don't always have to understand it. I have an interpretation of it, but that's secondary to the appeal to me. It's more about the in-the-moment atmosphere. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it so long as you feel something while watching it. Understanding is overrated.

The films you said you like aren't arthouse. They have elements of experimentation but they're still genre films. Animation films can be avant garde, I don't see why that's a con. Maybe it would be worth looking more into avant garde cinema to see how they compare for you.

As a side note, seeing the soldiers in Angel's Egg gave me zero expectation of action. That was their scene, I never even expected to see them again.