Sho, a young boy, arrives at his great-aunt’s house for a summer stay. He soon discovers a hidden world beneath the floorboards – a family of tiny people called Borrowers. These Borrowers, including the curious teenager Arrietty, secretly “borrow” what they need to survive from the humans they call “beans.”
Arrietty is a teenager of 14 years old. One night she was helping her father with borrowing things but unfortunately, Sho caught her borrowing tissues and a cube of sugar breaking the rule that they cannot get caught by humans. As they think humans are horrible and cruel and little people are slowly getting erased from the world because of humans.
The next day, when Sho came to return the piece of cube that Arrietty had left, she was surprised to see a human being kind to a little creature. That made Arrietty worried thinking that it could harm her family. So pondering, she went to return the piece of the cube to Sho.
Spoiler Alert!
As Sho and Arrietty’s relationship develops, human interference endangers the Borrowers’ lives. So after getting caught, they planned to shift as the place became risky for them. However, Sho wanted to help her in some way so he replaced her family’s small kitchen with a big beautiful dollhouse kitchen. But that kindness towards them did nothing but bring more trouble.
After that Haru found the borrower’s house with Arrietty’s mother in it. It was the first time she saw a tiny creature like that so she caught her in a jar and hid it. And then calls a pest control company to catch the other borrowers. When Arrietty found out that her mother was taken away she straight went to Sho for help. She helps her to find her mother.
After that incident, Arrietty and her family leave for good but Niya follows them and brings Sho with her.
The Borrowers are sailing away in a teapot with Spiller. Arrietty is upset to leave Sho behind and Spiller awkwardly offers her a fruit. He’s very happy when she takes it. A fish swimming in the shallow water catches her interest, seeming huge next to them. That’s how the film ends with a little bit of sadness.