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A magical journey, common sense media reviewers.

Muddled fantasy-adventure has peril, some mild language.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Kids can be brave and clever. Family matters.

Many adults behave in an abusive way toward kids.

Some international accents heard here even in dubb

A child is locked in her room and her aunt and cou

A man tells a young girl to kiss a frog and see if

"Damn," "hell," "ass," "idiot."

A woman smokes cigarettes. A group of soldiers dri

Parents need to know that the Ukrainian/Belgian film A Magical Journey is a child-centric fantasy adventure where kids face a variety of threats. Among them, getting chased, locked up, nearly poisoned, threatened with electrocution, mocked, almost cooked for dinner, thrown to the ground, and chased by adults…

Positive Messages

Positive role models.

Many adults behave in an abusive way toward kids. Others help the children. Polina shows courage and ingenuity in escaping danger and attempting to solve a mystery. She and her group of mostly kids help each other out, even at risk to themselves.

Diverse Representations

Some international accents heard here even in dubbed English version. Three different men have physical disabilities.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

A child is locked in her room and her aunt and cousin try to poison her. She's told her parents are dead, and we later see how two members of her family did die in a fire (caused by another relative). She's chased by men, and finds herself in a series of dangerous situations. In one, she's in a war-ravaged landscape and sees a man taken hostage at gunpoint. In another, schoolchildren are made to wear dunce caps, threatened by a teacher, and shut into a cage at the back of a classroom. Men engage in fist and sword fights, where one dies but is brought back to life, and a man gets hit over the head with a pan. A woman directs her servants to prepare a child for her to eat for dinner. A man threatens to conduct experiments on kids and tries to electrocute a small boy, getting electrocuted himself. A young girl and a grown man engage in a boxing match where they both get thrown around, as does another man who jumps in to help.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

A man tells a young girl to kiss a frog and see if it turns into a prince, and that she'll need to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince. A man and a woman kiss and snuggle.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

A woman smokes cigarettes. A group of soldiers drink out of a bottle and appear drunk.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that the Ukrainian/Belgian film A Magical Journey is a child-centric fantasy adventure where kids face a variety of threats. Among them, getting chased, locked up, nearly poisoned, threatened with electrocution, mocked, almost cooked for dinner, thrown to the ground, and chased by adults. Other men are beaten up, killed then brought back to life, hit over the head, thrown around, electrocuted, taken hostage at gun point, and tied up. A young girl watches how two members of her family die in a fire that was intentionally set by another relative. All of this is played for fantasy, as if inside different movies, but the dangers are real to the characters. Language includes "damn," "hell," "ass," "idiot." There's occasional cigarette smoking and one scene where a group of men appear to be drunk. A young girl is told to kiss a frog to see if he turns into a prince. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (1)
• Kids say (2)

Based on 1 parent review

It’s simply not giving, i wanted to fall asleep but couldn’t cause I was crying at the fact of it being so bad.

What's the story.

A MAGICAL JOURNEY sees 11-year-old Polina (Polina Pechenenko) escape her abusive home, where she lives with an aunt and grown male cousin, to try to find out what happened to her missing parents. She knows the mystery involves a movie studio, and once there, a man ( Jean Reno ) appears to her in a hologram and tells her she must piece together the sections of a family photo in order to solve the mystery before midnight, when she turns 12. Her search for the missing pieces of the photo takes her to different stages in the studio, each of which sends her into a different setting, or movies starring a shared cast of actors. She must escape a variety of threatening situations on the various sets, and in between she's still being chased by her cousin. Some of the actors help her and others seem intent on hurting her or the new friends she's made.

Is It Any Good?

There's an adage in storytelling that encourages writers to "show, don't tell"; this film could have benefited from that advice. Instead, A Magical Journey relies heavily on a character's recollection of events to compensate for a disjointed storyline that doesn't add up to much of anything. An oddball collection of characters moves from disconnected setting to setting, or more accurately, from soundstage to soundstage of a magical movie studio, as a young girl tries to solve a mystery by midnight.

The adventure leaves nothing for viewers to grab onto -- no fully-developed characters, no hoped-for outcome. Other aspects add to the weirdness, including some poorly-dubbed actors in the English version and dismal attempts at humor (?) often involving kids getting hurt. A final fight scene made to look like an early-era video game is vexing. French veteran Jean Reno's apparition as an omniscient hologram does nothing to lift the proceedings, nor does the presence of a few other familiar faces. Take a pass on this muddled journey.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the idea of going "behind the screen" or inside a movie, as Polina does in A Magical Journey . What movie would you like to go inside of?

Polina narrowly escapes danger in many scenes. How does she rely on the help of others to save herself? How does she help others stay safe?

Of all the worlds Polina enters, which felt the most realistic? Which the least? Did any remind you of other movies you've watched?

Movie Details

• On DVD or streaming : October 19, 2021
• Cast : Polina Pechenenko , Virginie Ledoyen , Jean Reno
• Director : Olias Barco
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Blue Fox Entertainment
• Genre : Fantasy
• Topics : Magic and Fantasy , Adventures , Brothers and Sisters , Fairy Tales , Friendship
• Run time : 94 minutes
• MPAA rating : NR
• Last updated : April 15, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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A Magical Journey

2019, Kids & family/Fantasy, 1h 20m

Where to watch A Magical Journey

Watch A Magical Journey with a subscription on Prime Video, rent on Fandango at Home, Apple TV, or buy on Fandango at Home, Apple TV.

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A magical journey   photos.

A MAGICAL JOURNEY is a story of an 11-year-old orphan who escapes from home in search of the truth about herself and her family. She has less than 24 hours before midnight of her 12th birthday to figure out the puzzle of events through imaginary worlds to avoid the nasty intentions of her aunt and cousin.

Genre: Kids & family, Fantasy, Adventure, Drama

Original Language: French (France)

Director: Olias Barco

Producer: Olias Barco , Egor Olesov , Dennis Ivanov

Writer: Olias Barco , Anouchka Walewyk , Saul Rubinek , Jonathan Neumann

Release Date (Streaming): Oct 19, 2021

Runtime: 1h 20m

Production Co: Ukrainian State Film Agency, Wild Tribe Films, Black Boat Pictures, Film.ua

Cast & Crew

Screen Hologram

Polina Artemenko

Audrey Marnay

Viking Queen

Saul Rubinek

Édouard Baer

Virginie Ledoyen

Virgile Bramly

Viking Valet

Sasha Ivanov

Wim Willaert

Olias Barco

Screenwriter

Anouchka Walewyk

Egor Olesov

Thierry Arbogast

Cinematographer

Reynald Bertrand

Film Editor

Dmytro Shurov

Original Music

Jonathan Neumann

Dennis Ivanov

Critic Reviews for A Magical Journey

Audience reviews for a magical journey.

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A Magical Journey

By Alan Ng | October 19, 2021

Olias Barco’s  A Magical Journey  is a fantastical tale for the younger set. It’s the story of a young girl, Polina (Polina Pechenenko), an 11-year-old orphan living in exile in a small room in her aunt’s home. Feeling sorry for Polina, her cousin Dylan gives her a box of trinkets that she believes are her parents’ last remnants, including a piece of a torn-up photo and a pass to the movie studio her parents once owned.

Knowing that Polina will eventually take over the studio, her aunt decides to poison her on her twelfth birthday. But, the child escapes and goes to the studio for answers. Upon arriving, Polina blends in with a bunch of kids attending film camp. Word comes from Polina’s aunt that she is there, and studio head Saul (Saul Rubinek) is ordered to find her.

In all the commotion, Polina stumbles across the fact that the studio is magical, and she is under a curse. Before turning twelve in less than a day, Polina must find the missing pieces of the family photo she found in the box or be doomed to live in the cinematic world forever. She to numerous sound stages and is dropped into various worlds and genres. She begins in a war-torn village and then to an old boxing ring, where she befriends a sort of mute boxer.

As Polina moves from one set to another, the characters in the filmic universe are the kids and adults she met at the studio camp “playing” various roles. On the school set, the nasty teacher locks kids up in a dunce cage when they mess up. The headmaster, played by Saul, soon rescues those kids, and we realize he may be more of an ally. As Polina moves from set to set, a mystical hologram (Jean Reno) guides her as she uncovers the true story of her family as she fights her evil aunt in a classic medieval showdown.

“…Polina must  find the missing pieces of the family photo  she found in the box or be doomed to live in the cinematic world forever.”

The moral of  A Magical Journey  is about family. The orphaned Polina goes on a harrowing adventure to uncover her history, including the search for her father, who is not dead, but in fact, has been in jail and ordered as part of his parole conditions to never return to the studio nor look for Polina. The tale is about the strength we gain from our family bonds.

Director Barco’s feature plays more for kids who are into make-believe and fantasy than every family member, no matter their interests or age. As a result, adults may find the story lacking in many ways. Polina jumps from one adventure to the next, but what could have genuinely elevated  A Magical Journey  was a sense of the lessons learned at each location that makes her a stronger person heading down the road of adulthood. Instead, she most simply obtains the pieces of the photo.

Screenwriters Olias Barco, Saul Rubinek, and Anouchka Walewyk do a fantastic job creating a colorful and fantastical world based inside a movie studio. There’s an overall sense of fun, which is perfect for kids. It has vibes of the old  Pippi Longstocking . Oddly, it has a similar approach to dialogue because the entire film feels like it is heavily overdubbed, and I can’t tell if it is originally a foreign film or not.

If you have young kids,  A Magical Journey  is a delightful tale. Though, a profound moral in the end would have broadened its audience to include parents.

A Magical Journey (2021)

Directed: Olias Barco

Written: Olias Barco, Saul Rubinek, Anouchka Walewyk

Starring: Polina Pechenenko, Virginie Ledoyen, Saul Rubinek, Jean Reno, etc.

Movie score: 7/10

"…about the strength we gain from our family bonds."

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A Magical Journey

Polina, 11-year-old girl, embarks on a magical journey to find the truth about her past and her family. Polina, 11-year-old girl, embarks on a magical journey to find the truth about her past and her family. Polina, 11-year-old girl, embarks on a magical journey to find the truth about her past and her family.

• Olias Barco
• Saul Rubinek
• Anouchka Walewyk
• Polina Pechenenko
• Virginie Ledoyen
• 4 User reviews
• 7 Critic reviews

• Viking Queen

• Screen Hologram

• Viking Valet

• All cast & crew
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Did you know

• Trivia Olias Barco and Thierry Arbogast had the idea of the film for a while - a fantasy about a young girl, who encounters a magical world of cinema. They had a few castings across the Europe to look for the right girl, but without success. Until, accidentally, Polina Pechenenko was discovered in Kyiv, Ukraine, at the FILM.UA studio, where now movie is being filmed.
• Goofs After Polina exits the war set (Stage 1), after learning that the piece of the picture she found came from someone on Stage 3. She runs away from the set. You can see that the Stage she is running from has a sign that says "Stage 3". Cut to shot of her cousin, who is chasing her. Cut back to Polina and now she is running toward "Stage 3" without turning around.

User reviews 4

• Feb 2, 2022
• How long is A Magical Journey? Powered by Alexa
• October 19, 2021 (United States)
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• Kyiv, Ukraine (Studio)
• Wild Tribe Films
• Ukrainian State Film Agency
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 34 minutes

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A Magical Journey

Cast & crew.

Master of the Game

Saul Rubinek

Saul / Headmaster

Virginie Ledoyen

Audrey Marnay

Polina Artemenko

Muddled fantasy-adventure has peril, some mild language.

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A Magical Journey

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