Cillian Murphy’s New Film Just Debuted With a Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score

Nothing but praise for Cillian Murphy ‘s new movie, Kensuke’s Kingdom, resulting in the feature opening with a 100% fresh Rotten Tomatoes rating. The film, based on Michael Morpurgo’s best-selling children’s book and directed by Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry, tells an inspiring and contemporary tale of building strong relationships, working together, and saving nature. Alongside Murphy, we also hear the voices of Aaron MacGregor, Ken Watanabe, Raffey Cassidy, and Sally Hawkins.

Kensuke’s Kingdom focuses on a young boy, Michael (Aaron MacGregor) – a fictionalized version of Morpurgo himself – who, together with his sister Becky (Cassidy) and his parents (Murphy and Hawkins), boards the Peggy Sue for an unforgettable family trip. Unbeknownst to his parents, Michael brought his precious sheepdog, Stella, on board. However, their heartwarming family trip soon becomes heartbreaking when the ship gets caught up in a terrible storm, resulting in Michael and Stella being thrown overboard.

After reaching an island in the Indian Ocean, Michael and Becky are taken in by a mysterious stranger. It doesn’t take long before Michael discovers that man is Kensuke (Watanabe), a World War II veteran who retreated to the island after the war. Kensuke and Michael strike up an unlikely but incredible friendship, one that undoubtedly becomes even stronger when they have to protect their precious but fragile island from ruthless invaders.

For their latest movie, which is being described as a “heartfelt” story for all ages, Boyle (Made Up,The Last Belle) and Hendry (Junk) worked together with The Railway Man writer Frank Cottrell-Boyce to adapt Morpurgo’s historical fiction novel, which was first published in 1998 and illustrated by Michael Foreman.

Who’s Voicing Kensuke’s Kingdom?

Kensuke’s Kingdom is MacGregor’s first lead role. He’s appeared in series such as Princess Mirror-Belle and Super PupZ and even had a minor role in Outlander. Last year, he also voiced Marvin in Puffin Rock and the New Friends. He’s joined by Cassidy, who began acting at just age seven and has since starred alongside many A-list actors, such as George Clooney (Tomorrowland), Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell (The Killing of a Sacred Deer), and Natalie Portman and Jude Law (Vox Lux).

Surrounding the young actors are Murphy and Hawkins. Murphy, who got his breakthrough role in Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later – which is getting a long-awaited sequel – delivered mesmerizing performances in films including Batman Begins, Cold Mountain, and Red Eye before finally being offered lead roles in Peaky Blinders and Oppenheimer. In July this year, a Peaky Blinders movie was finally greenlit, with Rebecca Ferguson joining Murphy in an unknown role.

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Starting her career in theatre, appearing in Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hawkins made her big-screen debut in Mike Leigh’s All or Nothing. The feature wasn’t only the start of a lifelong collaboration between Leigh and Hawkins – as both worked together on Vera Drake and Happy-Go-Lucky – but also of Hawkins’ successful career. She appeared in films such as Made in Dagenham, Paddington, and Maudie before receiving critical acclaim and Academy Award nominations for her performances in Blue Jasmine and The Shape of Water.

Rounding up this fantastic cast is Watanabe as Kensuke, the caring and good-hearted war veteran. After moving from Japan to Tokyo to pursue an acting career, Watanabe appeared in plays and television series before getting his big breakthrough in a Japanese series called Dokugan ryu Masamune. Watanabe went on to make a name for himself in Hollywood blockbusters such as Godzilla: King of the Monsters, the Transformers franchise, and HBO’s Tokyo Vice, and co-starred with Murphy in Christopher Nolan’s Inception.