Spy X Family Code: White

Image credit: spyfamily.movie

Feature films that further the narrative of the TV show are not something you see very often in Western entertainment, but with the ceaselessly slowing popularity of anime, it’s a phenomenon that we’re starting to come acquainted with. I think the most recent thing we’ve seen where television and cinematic universes collide has been in the MCU where the events of the show WandaVision were referenced in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.

A while ago Partner and I became rather enamored with a superbly adorable and fun anime called Spy X Family, which follows the day-to-day adventures of a sham family established by an organisation of spies to prevent war from breaking out between two nations. It’s a seemingly happy family, but each member has a secret about their identity that they try desperately to hide from the others. The father, Loid Forger, is a spy codenamed Twilight. The mother, Yor Forger, is an elite assassin known as Thorn Princess, and the daughter, Anya Forger, is a telepath. Cue hilarity.

Anyway, after absolutely falling in love with Spy X Family, we were very excited to curl up one evening and watch the movie.

Despite being four years old, Anya Forger is trying her best in school, to help her ‘father’ Loid Forger in his secret mission to save the world from war. But bullies, the stress of an exorbitant workload, and social concepts well beyond her understanding are making Anya’s goal of earning golden Stella stars almost unreachable. When she is given a special cooking assignment that could win her a star, Loid suggests making the teacher’s favourite dessert – a suggestion that takes the whole family on vacation to collect the ingredients. But along the way, Anya accidentally becomes the housing vessel for a tiny roll of microfilm that threatens the tentative peace between the two nations and is kidnapped by enemy forces. Loid must save his ‘daughter’ and retrieve the film – all without arousing suspicion and blowing his cover.

The vibe of Spy X Family is reminiscent of serial comedies of the 1960s and 70s, a la Get Smart and Starsky and Hutch, but with gorgeous and hilariously emotive animation. The simple narrative setting that allows so many endearing and hilarious misadventures to spring from it like fungus on a log, makes it a very delightful and digestible show that’s perfect for an evening after work when your brain’s capacity for absorbing content is diminished. In perfectly balanced half-hour episodes, it delivers action-packed escapades with heartwarming emotional stories, which then work to further the underlying narrative – the sham family starts to feel like a real family.

Image credit: looper.com

The film is really just a feature length episode that tells a wonderfully funny story that starts with a simple goal but get increasingly and unbelievably complicated as it progresses. Like Death at a Funeral or The Birdcage, Spy X Family: Code White begins as a wholesome family vacation film, which then quickly transforms into an action-packed spy movie like a Bond or Die Hard.

I would highly recommend Spy X Family for your next popcorn binge regardless, but if you’re not up to date with the show, that does not actually hinder enjoyment of the film. As a standalone, Code White is a fun and exciting family movie that is easy to follow and promises a good hour+ of excitement and laughter.

Director: Kazuhiro Furuhashi & Takashi Katagiri, 2023

Cast (English dub): Alex Organ, Ben Phillips, Lindsay Seidel, Megan Shipman, Natalie Van Sistine, & Corey Wilder.