Ireland and Northern Ireland are two different places.
The first is a small independent country in the mid-south of the island of Ireland, in Western Europe. The latter—together with Great Britain—makes up the United Kingdom. As for their relationship... well, "it's complicated." Or, to put it more bluntly, in the eyes of the Londoners waving their Union Jacks, Ireland's just a shabby countryside where the locals do nothing but plant potatoes, plant potatoes, and plant more potatoes.
Of course, all that prejudice is just leftover bitterness among adults. Before the age of mobile internet, the toxicity of society hadn't yet seeped deeply into children's minds. So when HP became popular, the kids here also devoured the worldwide bestseller, and once HP hit the big screen, the Golden Trio instantly became the idols of an entire generation.
"Oh! Dad! Can you hurry up already?"
"It's already ten o'clock! Ten o'clock! The theaters are open! The tickets for The Voice are on sale!"
Christmas Day, in Galway, a harbor city on Ireland's west coast.
Thirteen-year-old Yara Carson stood in front of the family car, calling out impatiently for her ever-late father.
"I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming, sweetheart~"
Her call drew a man dashing out of the house.
He was clearly in a rush.
His puffer jacket wasn't zipped, his chest half exposed with a sweater peeking out underneath. His wool hat sat crooked on his head, and the cold had reddened his nose.
Still, despite the mess, he grabbed his daughter in a big bear hug, tilted his head up, and rubbed his unshaven chin against her cheek. The bristles made her instinctively recoil, leaning back just enough to make him laugh out loud.
Completely unfazed, he released her, shut the door behind him, and said, "Yara, don't worry so much. It's Christmas Day—most people are still sleeping in. The theater won't be that crowded."
That earned him a glare.
"Dad! That's totally wrong! The theater's gonna be packed today because The Voice is officially premiering! All my classmates are going to see it!"
"I can't fall behind! I'm the only one in class who got a reply from Isabella herself! Everyone's jealous of me! If I don't see the movie right away, they'll write to Isabella and tell her I'm not a true believer!"
Before her words even ended, another voice chimed in—her mom's, already in the car to escape the cold.
"She's right. Besides The Voice, Leo's Catch Me If You Can opens today too. Oh, it's been so long since I saw one of his movies in a theater—the last one was Titanic."
"He hasn't done something this fun in ages. You two have to watch it with me today!"
"Oh~ my dear, what you mean is that Leo hasn't played anyone as charming and handsome as Jack Dawson in ages, right?"
While shutting the door and ushering his daughter into the car, the man put on an exaggeratedly sentimental face—
"Oh~~ Jack~~"
"Oh~~ Rose~~"
"I'll never let go~~"
"I'll never let go either~~"
"..."
His theatrical imitation made the mom squint dangerously.
"It's Christmas, so what—are you hoping to meet God early?"
"hahahaha~"
He laughed while buckling his seatbelt. "Honey, I'll watch Leo's movie with you seven times today—just like when we saw Titanic seven times five years ago. I still remember we even dumped Yara at her grandpa's just so we could go."
That shut Mom up.
The sudden nostalgia pressed her lips into a thin line.
From the back seat, Yara's eyes went wide. "So…"
She thought she'd just uncovered something scandalous.
Before she could voice it, Dad turned around. "Don't worry, sweetheart. We'll watch Leo's movie seven times first, drop your mom back home, then you and I will go watch The Voice eight times. I love you more than I love your mom, okay?"
"I won't let your classmates say your devotion to Hermione Granger is impure."
"..."
Mother and daughter fell silent together.
A moment later, Mom punched Dad in the arm—hard. That mouth of his just wouldn't stop. Yara rolled her eyes in support. Mom was absolutely right; Dad was kind of nuts.
Through all that bickering, the little family of three finally left their small yard and sped toward the city's cinema.
Yes, they were spending Christmas morning going to the movies. Actually, two of them: The Voice and Catch Me If You Can.
The reason for the first was obvious—
Yara Carson was a die-hard Potterhead, an Isabella fan through and through. To show her pride (and maybe find a kindred spirit), she was even wearing a Hogwarts robe.
The reason for the second was even simpler—
When Titanic grossed 1.8 billion worldwide, Jack Dawson must have had at least a hundred million fans. Many women had once swooned over that boyish face, and mourned when Leo refused to take such roles again. But now—he was playing another dashing, youthful character?
Wow.
The godlike looks in Catch Me If You Can had stirred everyone's nostalgia.
As for all that supposed rivalry hyped up by the media?
Sure, they'd seen it.
But before watching both movies, they didn't want to talk about it.
Because anyone with half a brain knew Hermione Granger fighting Jack Dawson was nonsense.
It was obviously just a marketing stunt.
They reached the city, parked, and went into the multiplex.
By 10:30 a.m., the lobby already had quite a few people.
Families? Definitely The Voice.
Couples or besties? Definitely Catch Me If You Can.
Alone? Almost no one.
It was Christmas, after all.
They bought tickets, entered, and—despite Dad's chatter and Mom's Leo obsession—the first movie they watched was The Voice.
Once everyone settled, the lights dimmed and the big screen flickered to life.
As usual, the production logos came first. Warner Bros. appeared, then 1492 Pictures—Columbus's company, named after the year Columbus discovered the New World (though Chris Columbus the director had zero relation to that one).
Then came the third logo—
After 1492 faded, the screen went dark.
A second later, two knocking sounds—thump, thump—echoed.
From the black screen's center, a small slit of light appeared like a door opening.
Out peeked a round-headed, chubby little creature waving at the audience.
"Hi~"
Then, beneath it, golden letters appeared: "Coypu."
At once, the dark theater filled with murmurs—
"Wow~ that's Hermione's voice!"
"The animal's a beaver, right? A beaver?"
"God, it's so cute—"
"So Coypu is Isabella's company?"
Naturally, being one of the producers, her studio's logo showed up.
And that cute little beaver was designed by Isabella's older sister, animated by Pixar at Columbus's request, costing a cool million dollars.
Its inspiration? A viral otter meme from her previous life's internet.
Sure, otters and beavers aren't the same species—but who cares?
No one's checking.
It's cute, and in this world, cute is justice.
"Oh~~ why do I feel like Isabella's company logo looks like an animation studio?"
Dad sounded dubious.
"Doesn't feel very… serious?"
"It's fine!"
Already munching popcorn, Yara gave him a glare. "I think her logo's perfect! I knew it was her company right away, even without the news."
"When you name a company, it should be simple and catchy, duh. Who remembers those weird fancy names?"
With that, Dad just chuckled and shook his head.
Coypu's logo was the last. As it faded, the screen went dark again.
Two seconds later, a measured, rhythmic voice flowed through the speakers.
The movie had begun—
"Yesterday, I led you in reading Sir John Stainer's hymn 'God So Loved the World.' I trust you all practiced well. Today, we shall sing it, and through the singing, feel its divine beauty…"
The aged voice brought forth a vivid scene:
A grand cathedral, a priest in purple robes standing at the altar.
Rows of boys in matching vestments stood at wooden desks, holding white sheets of music.
As the priest spoke, they read, looked up, frowned, or smiled in comprehension. Some seemed to glimpse divine meaning; others just looked confused.
The mundane, imperfect scene reflected humanity itself.
Then—the camera cut sharply.
In the eastern wing of the church, a girl in a pale yellow dress appeared, glowing in the light like an angel. Her delicate profile under the stained-glass sunbeam made children in the audience gasp.
"Oh~~ Hermione~~"
"She's so beautiful~~~"
"Is she eavesdropping on the priest's lesson?"
"She looks so cute when she's serious—"
The moment Isabella appeared, the theater erupted in whispers.
Can't be helped. Beauty attracts attention.
But the chatter didn't last long, because The Voice had a lot of story to tell, and its pacing was brisk. After showing Lily Zeller secretly learning from the choir, the conflict hit fast:
The old priest wanted the choir to sing "God So Loved the World," but most boys hadn't practiced properly, so the performance was rough.
Furious, the priest scolded them for disrespecting God.
He singled out the worst-performing boy, intending to punish him. At that moment, the choir's top student—Lily's first "boss," Cole Carter, played by William Moseley—stood up.
Cole objected to the punishment. Laziness was human nature, he said; acknowledging mistakes and improving was enough. Scripture itself warned against anger, so the priest's fury was itself a sin.
So if he could disrespect God, why couldn't they?
If they couldn't, then he must repent as well.
His bold defiance awed the other boys, enraged the priest, and—hidden near the door—made young Lily burst into giggles. Her laugh rang through the grand hall like a lark's song.
A second later—
The priest, desperate for an outlet, snapped toward the sound.
"Lily Zeller! It's you, isn't it? You again! How many times have I told you—you may come to pray, but the choir is not for you! The choir has never accepted girls in a thousand years!"
Tradition must not be broken!
His roar laid bare the central conflict.
He couldn't answer his student's question.
He couldn't hold himself to the same standard.
When cornered, he deflected and lashed out—
A very human ugliness.
The little girl rolled her eyes, scoffed, and turned away.
That dismissive gesture only made him angrier.
He flung his sheet music aside, rolled up his sleeves, and stormed toward her, shouting that she'd beg forgiveness before the holy statue.
Realizing she'd pushed him too far, Lily decided her secret lesson was over for the day—and ran.
But she didn't just bolt.
She darted and dodged, teasing him like a playful fish, leading him in circles through the church.
Just when the old priest thought he had her cornered, she stopped short, spun on her heel—
"Ah—!"
The priest twisted his back.
The miserable tone of voice made the little girl bolt out of the church like the wind. At the same time, she turned around and made a funny face at the panting priest clutching his aching back. That Jerry The Mouse-like mischief and liveliness drew loud cheers from the audience—
"Cool!"
"Oh~ Isa's so cool~"
"Hahaha~ that priest's such an idiot! He can't even catch one person!"
"I hate that priest! Isa's so cute!"
Just one scene, and everyone could already feel how fun the movie was!
"Oh, Mom, why do I feel like I'm watching Home Alone?"
Yara Carson grinned as she shared her impression with her mother.
"I got the same feeling."
Her mother nodded, snatching a huge handful of popcorn from her daughter's snack bucket mid-sentence.
Crunch, crunch.
"But I think it's great. Unlike your dad, I don't like those gloomy movies."
"Especially since it's Christmas today."
That's right.
Although The Voice was positioned as a drama—and its road-movie core emphasized the protagonist's journey toward spiritual growth—Columbus and Isabella had never intended to make it grim or heavy. Kids wouldn't like that, and Isabella's fans were mostly kids.
In that case, saying no to your own fanbase would be pure brain rot with a side of too-much-money disease.
So from the start, they decided to mix a little comedy into The Voice's journey of chasing dreams.
Of course, that wasn't some impulsive idea—it was well thought out. Since Lily Zeller's character was designed as a "little sun," it was natural to give her some comedic traits.
Once Lily Zeller became a cheerful goofball, the story unfolded like a dance of musical notes:
The little girl who always "settles scores" came home, but just as she was about to open the door, a burst of angry shouting froze her in place.
Instinctively squinting, she leaned sideways and peeked in through the kitchen window on the first floor.
Her apron-clad mother was cooking. Because she had too many dishes to prepare, she called out to Grandpa, who was lounging on the sofa in the living room, to come help. But no matter how many times she called, he didn't respond. Frustrated, she went over to check.
Then the "corpse" on the sofa—drunk Grandpa—was shaken awake, groaned a few times, and puked.
Yep, Grandpa puked. On Mom.
The "bleh bleh bleh" sound triggered a thousand-decibel shriek, and the girl who'd been peeking through the window instantly winced, clamped her ears, and crouched down. That reflexive escape made the kids in the audience burst out laughing—
"Whoa—Isa just saw her grandpa puke all over her mom? That reaction was so cute—"
"Her little face looked all scrunched up when she ducked down! She totally regretted spying!"
"I'd regret it too! Watching someone throw up is disgusting!"
"So Hopkins plays the drunk? Mom's the housewife? That setup's bound to blow up with family drama."
While the audience was chattering, the screen suddenly cut to another scene:
After discovering a bomb wired to the front door, Lily Zeller decided she'd had enough of her family's mess.
She tried going in through the side door—the little garage door next to the front entrance—but again, just as she reached for the handle, voices arguing came from behind it.
This time, it was a man shouting. Hearing the rage in his voice, the girl curiously climbed onto the garage shelf and peeked through the high window that connected the garage to the house.
There she saw her uncle yelling at her sister. He claimed her video game noises were disturbing his thoughts—and if it weren't for her racket, he'd have solved the Hodge conjecture by now.
In Little Miss Sunshine, the uncle was a lunatic researching the "Proust effect." In The Voice, the uncle became a "genius" mathematician. As for why the change…
"Oh, Riley! If you hadn't spent the past few years scribbling your stupid formulas everywhere—even on my paintings!—I would've gotten into the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts already!"
"I never bothered you, and now you're bothering me?"
"Fine! Since you want it spelled out, I'll say it—I've been sick of you for ages! Ever since you moved back, you've been driving me crazy! The only reason I didn't blow up earlier was because Dad told me to be nice to you!"
"Dad told me not to fight with you!"
"But now—"
"Heh—"
"M-Fxxk!"
"You useless dropout!"
"Get the hell out!"
The sister slammed her door with all her might.
Bang-thud!
The first bang-thud was the door smacking the uncle's nose—
Their argument had been happening right outside her bedroom, after all.
As soon as the door closed, his nose made intimate contact with it.
Then, the future Batman, Bruce Wayne, briefly transformed into Jackie Chan the Furniture Fighter.
The second bang-thud was him clutching his nose and stumbling backward into the garage door—
Yep. The uncle's madness was perfectly matched with his sister's temper.
And why are mathematicians portrayed as lunatics?
That scene came right in the middle of the movie.
Lily Zeller winced in secondhand pain just watching him smash himself.
"Oh… Isabella's expression there is priceless…"
"I can feel her feeling his pain through the screen—"
"Her acting's actually really good~ such expressive reactions~"
Since even the side door was hopeless, Lily Zeller could only sneak in through the back.
Tiptoeing into her room like a tiny burglar, she finally relaxed, earning a round of fond laughter from the kids in the audience.
Locking the door, leaning back in her chair, the joy of freedom poured out of her every move.
She put on her headphones, wanting to shut out the world—and as she picked up a competition poster, the film's title appeared—
The Voice of the World
That eight-minute opening alone satisfied plenty of film buffs.
Because the theme was already clear—
After being chased out of the church where she'd secretly learned music, even without the director saying so, everyone could tell from that final shot: she was going to keep running down the path of music.
Because the emotion was already there—
The priest despised her, her home was a mess; when you start with nothing, every level-up feels like a victory.
"Ooh~~ this movie's actually really interesting~~"
"I like this beginning!"
"So next it's family drama, then the competition? Let's go, little beaver!"
Any halfway-decent director can pack information into a shot.
A great one makes the audience see and understand it.
And once the director had fully hooked the audience's curiosity, when everyone was eager for what came next, a child's clear singing voice suddenly flowed through the theater speakers—it was Lily Zeller's headphones.
"Doctor, actor, lawyer, or a singer~"
"Why not president, be a dreamer~"
"You can be just the one you wanna be~"
Notes:
① John Stainer (1840–1901), British composer and organist, best known for The Crucifixion. "God So Loved the World" is part of that work. In his youth, he was a choirboy at St. Paul's Cathedral, and after he became famous, his works were sung in churches all across Britain.
② The song is Be What You Wanna Be.