"Mizuko is a film about the Buddhist rituals of healing that exist in Japan for people who have had abortions. The term mizuko, meaning 'water child,' is a special term used to refer to a life that never makes it to being born. The philosophy behind the ritual comes from the perspective that all life is an endless ebb and flow of water, with no dividing line being drawn between life and death. A life that ends as early as its time in the womb – whether it is by choice of the parents or by miscarriage – is seen as the smallest of tides pushing back into the sea. But that life is still something that can be acknowledged, appreciated, and mourned.

"Regardless of a person’s reason for having an abortion, the mizuko kuyo ritual and the special temples designated for them in Japan allow people to feel what they need to feel with an experience that is so often categorized as just another surgical procedure or outright murder, and nothing in between."
– Directors Kira Dane and Katelyn Rebelo