In this sparkling anime comedy set in a vibrant alternate world, the customer is always right – but they’re never human.

Hokkyoku Department Store isn’t your average upscale emporium. While its staff are human, all the customers are stylishly dressed talking animals: from cats, bears and horses to demanding walruses, amorous peacocks and woolly mammoths! On her first week, trainee concierge Akino scrambles to solve the shopping-related dilemmas of her ‘Very Important Animal’ customers. Eager but klutzy, she often over-promises or misreads situations – and her scary manager Mr Todo is always popping out of the most unexpected places to note down all her mistakes. Can Akino keep everyone happy, and keep her dream job?

Based on Tsuchika Nishimura’s award-winning manga series, The Concierge also evokes Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel in its quirky characters and its nostalgia for the lost glamour of old-fashioned customer service. This stylishly visualised fantasy is so breezy and funny that its poignant conservation message may be easy to miss. But if you’re as compassionate as Akino, you’ll resonate with this film’s invitation to care for the creatures with whom we share the Earth.

“A delight from beginning to end … with a lively, expressive art style and wonderfully absurd characters.” – IGN Movies

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The session on 13 August is Sensory Friendly. This session will run a little differently to a standard session. To learn about what these changes are, you can check out MIFF’s Access page and review the Sensory Friendly Guide, which will be uploaded here closer to the session date.