Aarcflick

 These days, it’s more cliché than ever to praise a film as “transcendent.” The overuse of the term by festival-goers promoting the films they can see before everyone else or by online fan accounts describing their favorite celebrities has robbed it of its ability to describe a transformative experience when experiencing great art. But the real reason we obsess over art, like film and music, is because of that initial transcendental experience, and we religiously follow one new release after another, chasing that euphoria. The Colors Within doesn’t try to make you see another plane of existence. Instead, it’s an animated film that celebrates the joy of experiencing art and its transcendental properties. The Colors Within’s all-girls Catholic high school setting may put off fans of director Naoko Yamada’s previous work. Her two previous masterpieces, Liz and the Blue Bird and A Silent Voice, embody its modern high school settings. Yet Yamada understands the familial relationship bet...