Though only 15, Maquia knows she will live for centuries without aging past adolescence. She belongs to the Iorph, a clan of ageless beings just like her. Maquia's elders warn her not to fall in love with anyone outside their realm, lest she wish to encounter true loneliness in the end. But fate pushes Maquia out into the mortal world one night, when an invading territory separates her from the clan. There she discovers an orphaned baby, Ariel, and takes him in as her own child. From this point, Maquia will suffer extreme heartbreak in the name of motherhood, as she watches Ariel grow and seeks to reconnect with her lost Iorph friends, all torn apart by the cruel world of Mesate.

"We don't even notice how deep [director] Mari Okada has driven her storytelling dagger until she pulls it out in the end, and the tears come, adding, to the bitterness and sweetness of this moving and strange little fable, a hefty dose of salt." (Variety)

"'Fantasy' often conjures visions of a Tolkien-esque mix of dragons, elves, quests and big blokes with axes, but Japanese writer-director Mari Okada's animated epic has done something impressively new with the genre." (Time Out)

Monday, Sept 3rd
Doors 2:30 pm | Movie 3:00 pm
Tickets $10 advance | $12 at the door

*Minors welcome in the balcony! Must be 19+ w/ID for bar service and main floor seating.
**Rio Theatre Groupons and passes OK! Please redeem at the door.

MAQUIA: WHEN THE PROMISED FLOWER BLOOMS "Sayonara no asa ni yakusoku no hana o kazarô" (Mari Okada, 2018 / 115 mins / PG) / Japanese with English subs) A story of encounters and partings interwoven between people; this is a human drama with feelings that touch one's heart gradually, which everyone has experienced at least once.