The defence The Popcorn Loyalist
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
Return to Nim's Island
Family · Adventure · 2013
Fourteen year old Nim, more determined than ever to protect her island and all the wildlife that call it home, faces off against resort developers and animal poachers. Soon she realizes she can’t depend on her animal cohorts alone and must make her first human friend – Edmund, who’s run away to the island from the mainland – to save her home.
Movie details
Return to Nim's Island
“Adventure runs wild, again.”
2013 Family · Adventure 1h 30m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.5 / 10
Community rating
Fourteen year old Nim, more determined than ever to protect her island and all the wildlife that call it home, faces off against resort developers and animal poachers. Soon she realizes she can’t depend on her animal cohorts alone and must make her first human friend – Edmund, who’s run away to the island from the mainland – to save her home.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Return to Nim's Island?
For the defence
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Moon the Panda
Family · 2025
Due to his poor academic performance, twelve-year-old Tian is sent to live with his grandmother in the remote mountains of Sichuan. Far from the hustle and bustle of the city, he finds himself immersed in nature and secretly befriends a panda cub he names Moon. Together, Tian and Moon embark on a journey of discovery and overcoming challenges. The boy is forced to confront his fears and, in the process, learns valuable lessons about courage, respect, and the profound bond between humankind and nature. This experience profoundly transforms Tian's life and fosters an unexpected family reconciliation.
Lassie
Family · 1994
On their way to start a new life at a sheep farm in rural Virginia, the Turner family are halted by a wreck on the highway that has claimed the life of a truck driver. Spotting the trucker's now-abandoned collie on the side of the road, they take pity on the dog and adopt her. As the city family copes with the change to rural life, including a feud with a neighboring farm family who resent the city interlopers, the ever-loyal Lassie helps them adjust to their new surroundings.
White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf
Adventure · 1994
A boy and his dog, White Fang, must try to save the noble Haida tribe from evil white men in turn-of-the-century Alaska.
Once Upon a Forest
Animation · 1993
A young mouse, mole and hedgehog risk their lives to find a cure for their badger friend, who's been poisoned by men.
Dolittle
Family · 2020
After losing his wife seven years earlier, the eccentric Dr. John Dolittle, famed doctor and veterinarian of Queen Victoria’s England, hermits himself away behind the high walls of Dolittle Manor with only his menagerie of exotic animals for company. But when the young queen falls gravely ill, a reluctant Dolittle is forced to set sail on an epic adventure to a mythical island in search of a cure, regaining his wit and courage as he crosses old adversaries and discovers wondrous creatures.
Finding ʻOhana
Adventure · 2021
Two Brooklyn siblings' summer in a rural Oahu town takes an exciting turn when a journal pointing to long-lost treasure sets them on an adventure, leading them to reconnect with their Hawaiian heritage.
The Legend of Ochi
Family · 2025
In a remote village on the island of Carpathia, a shy farm girl named Yuri is raised to fear an elusive animal species known as ochi. But when Yuri discovers a wounded baby ochi has been left behind, she escapes on a quest to bring him home.
The Magic Faraway Tree
Adventure · 2026
A modern family relocates to the countryside where the children discover a magical tree with eccentric residents. They're transported to fantastical lands, rekindling their family bond through adventures.
Moana
Family · 2026
Teenage Moana answers the Ocean's call and, for the first time, voyages beyond the reef of her island of Motunui with infamous demigod Maui on an unforgettable journey to restore prosperity to her people.
Bookworm
Adventure · 2024
Eleven-year-old Mildred’s life is turned upside down when her mother lands in hospital and estranged, American magician father, Strawn Wise, comes to look after her. Hoping to entertain the bookish tween, Strawn takes Mildred camping in the notoriously rugged New Zealand wilderness, and the pair embark on the ultimate test of family bonding – a quest to find the mythological beast known as the Canterbury Panther.
Where it lives
Watch in your region.
Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.
Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Brendan Maher
Written by
Cathy Randall · Ray Boseley
Matthew Lillard
Jack
Bindi Irwin
Nim
Andrea Moor
Minister O'Hare
Jack Pearson
Ben
Toby Wallace
Edmund
Sebastian Gregory
Frankie
Nathan Derrick
Felix
Court is in session
Put Return to Nim's Island on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.