In one-hundred years I will be long gone, most of the people I know now will be long gone–but the world itself will continue. Some things will change, others will stay the same–and the reality is that no one living today knows exactly what the future will look like. Hello to Me in 100 Years discusses this idea with children. The film is an animated look at what the future might look like through the eyes and minds of those kids.
Hello to Me in 100 Years is just this beautiful thing that allows imagination to come to life. Using animation, this film dives deep into the minds of a series of young children–and we hear and see them express to us the optimism that they have for their futures. I almost can’t imagine anymore what that optimism might feel like, what it must feel like to truly believe that things will work out in the long run, but these children possess a quality (whether that’s innocence, naivety, ignorance, or something else entirely, I’m not sure) that allows them to see a bright and vibrant future. There may be no truth to the things that are said throughout the course of Hello to Me in 100 Years, but just hearing what these children have to say is enough to make you feel good, and the film does just that from beginning to end.
This film almost makes you tear up. The innocence (or something else) that transcends the entirety of the film is touching, emotionally relevant, and completely immersive. I was immediately transferred to a time where things were simpler, where I believed that everything would one day be right in the world. Again, I struggle to remember a time when I was this optimistic, and while I’m not entirely sure that it’s the purpose of Hello to Me in 100 Years to transport viewers back in time, I think that Director Wu-Ching Chang manages to accomplish this anyway. The animated visuals are just like what I’d expect from a group of children, and they, too, much like the anecdotes of those children, become immersive–pulling viewers into Hello to Me in 100 Years, and keeping hold of us throughout.
Even in the closing seconds and the end credits, Hello to Me in 100 Years leans heavily into the ideas of innocence using music. There’s something magical and exciting about the song at the end of the film, and it helps to effectively conclude the film. Hello to Me in 100 Years ultimately lands in a place of optimism and excitement–a place where everyone can be happy and look forward to the future. This is just another way that Chang connects with her audience, another way that the film reaches out and touches viewers in a way that makes sense.
The mere concept of Hello to Me in 100 Years is enough to cause viewers to sit down, watch, and thoroughly enjoy themselves. Once the film gets going, however, there are more layers to the film that allow viewers access, that allow them to see and hear something that may have been missing during their adult years. Chang constantly finds new ways to entertain, through both audio or visuals–and beyond that she is able to teach us a thing or two about life. Hello to Me in 100 Years is simple enough that anyone can comprehend, deep enough to make a change, and far better than anyone could have expected.
Directed by Wu-Ching Chang.
Starring Hsin-Yu Tseng, Heng-Wei Huang, Yi-Chia Hsieh, Yu-Chu Hsu, Wei-De Huang, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/10
