Mary and the Witch’s Flower review: A bewitching and magical animation

Mary (voiced in the English version by The BFG’s RubyBarnhill) is an impetuous schoolgirl spending the summer in her great aunt’s country home when a cat leads her to a magical flower and an ancient broomstick.

When Mary puts the two together, the broom jolts to life and she is spirited away to a secret school for witches ruled by a sinister headmistress (Kate Winslet) and a mad professor (Jim Broadbent).

Mary And The Witch’s Flower lacks the emotional heft of When Marnie Was There, Yonebayashi’s final film for Ghibli, but the fantasy world is wildly imaginative and beautifully realised.