My Neighbor Totoro

Two young girls move with their father to the countryside and experience strange goings-on. It sounds like a by-the-numbers horror movie, but Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro is in fact a family film. Sisters Satsuki and Mei find their new home is inhabited by small soot goblins — and that a host of unusual creatures with rabbit ears appear when no adults are around. Are these apparitions really there, or are they merely manifestations of the girls subconscious fears for their mother, who has been hospitalized with a mysterious illness for far too long? Mei believes they're real, and that the large, bear-like spirit she calls Totoro is keeping a friendly watch over them. My Neighbor Totoro is revered for its mystical view of the natural world and its realistic characterization of childhood — and also for the lovable Totoro. Fathom Events presents two screenings of My Neighbor Totoro this week. You can see the dubbed version at 12:55 p.m. Sunday, June 25, or one with subtitles at 7 p.m. Monday, June 26, at the Marcus Wehrenberg Ronnies Cine (5320 South Lindbergh Boulevard; www.famthomevents.com). Tickets are $12.50.