Fullmetal Alchemist

In the country of Amestris, alchemy is a widely practised science. As children, brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric tried to use it to bring their dead mother back, and the attempt cost them dearly: Edward lost an arm and a leg, while Alphonse's body was destroyed entirely, leaving his soul bound to a suit of armour. Years later, Edward has become a State Alchemist known as the Fullmetal Alchemist, and the brothers search for the Philosopher's Stone, the one thing that might restore Alphonse's body. Their pursuit draws the attention of the military government and of mysterious monsters.

The film is a live-action adaptation of the manga, directed by Fumihiko Sori, who wrote the screenplay with Takeshi Miyamoto. It followed Sori's Vexille and ICHI, and he later returned to the same material with two further films in 2022. Ryosuke Yamada plays Edward, with Atomu Mizuishi as Alphonse, Tsubasa Honda as Winry Rockbell, Dean Fujioka as Roy Mustang, Misako Renbutsu as Riza Hawkeye and Yasuko Matsuyuki as Lust.

Released in December 2017 at 135 minutes, the film took about 8 million dollars worldwide. Reception was lukewarm: it holds 5.3 on IMDb from 22,000 votes and 5.4 on TMDB from 595 votes, while critics gave it 5.1 from 18 reviews, so audience and critical scores sit close together.