DEPARTURES

DEPARTURES takes a morbid subject and handles it with extraordinary tenderness. Its story of a young man finding meaning in funeral work becomes a meditation on dignity, service, grief, love, and reconciliation. The film also contains overtly positive Christian content, especially at a Christian funeral and during the playing of “Ave Maria.”

The cost is a sustained focus on death, along with references to Buddhism and other religious beliefs. One scene involves a dead body that is discovered to be a cross-dressing young man. Those concerns call for discernment, but the film’s central message—that every person deserves respect and love—offers substantial moral and emotional value.

If you are a teenager or adult prepared for the subject matter, DEPARTURES is worth seeing.

Daigo Kobayashi is a young married cellist whose philharmonic orchestra folds, leaving him without work. He and his wife, Mika, return to his hometown as he searches for a more ordinary job.

An apparent opportunity at a travel agency turns out to be work at a Japanese funeral home, where Daigo must help prepare and wash the dead. Repulsed at first, he gradually discovers meaning in the care he gives grieving families—while hiding the nature of his work from his wife.

Four stars means DEPARTURES is an exceptional film, and the source review calls it an exquisite, extraordinary, ultimately redemptive masterpiece.

The movie transforms a dark subject into an inspiring cinematic triumph of sublime, profound beauty. Scene after scene is described as profound, provocative, joyful, or heart-wrenching—sometimes all at once. Its emotional power comes through the graceful care shown to the dead and the gratitude of mourners who see their loved ones handled respectfully.

DEPARTURES exalts service, compassion, respect for the dead, and the essential dignity of every person. Its central conviction is that human beings possess a transcendent spark from the Divine, whether they are Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, atheist, or something else, and whether they treated others kindly or unkindly.

The film includes overtly positive Christian references, especially during a Christian funeral and the reverential playing of “Ave Maria.” It also includes references to Buddhism and other pagan superstitions. Its broad view of human dignity reaches toward biblical compassion, but its treatment of ultimate destiny allows for religious pluralism rather than presenting a distinctly Christian understanding of salvation.

The film also includes a homosexual element in a scene involving a corpse discovered to be a cross-dressing young man. This is part of the film’s broader concern with treating every person respectfully, regardless of circumstance.

DEPARTURES connects its call to love and service with Jesus’ command: “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return” (Luke 6:35).

DEPARTURES finds sublime beauty in grief, service, and the dignity of every person. Its religious pluralism and death-related material call for discernment, but its emotional power and redemptive moral vision are exceptional. For teenagers and adults prepared for its subject matter, the answer is WORTH THE TRIP — TEENAGERS AND ADULTS.