Dir: Hayao Miyazaki
Christian Bale, Dave Bautista, Gemma Chan, Willem Dafoe, Karen Fukuhara, Mark Hamill, Robert Pattinson, Florence Pugh
124 mins
Oscar nominated!

1943. 12 year old Mahito (Soma Santoki) suffers the devastating loss of his beloved mother in a Tokyo hospital fire.

In the aftermath, he is begrudgingly forced to relocate to a grand, blissful country estate, following his father’s marriage to his Aunt Natsuko (Yoshino Kimura).

Struggling to adjust, Mahito finds himself inexplicably beckoned by an invasive talking grey heron (Masaki Suda) – who promises the boy that he can save his mother by following him to another realm.

Guided to a grand, aging tower, the boy is transported into a magical alternate world, where the dead coexist with the living. There, in the land of the adorable Warawara, presided over by giant parakeets, Mahito begins a transformative quest to reconcile with his grief.

This enchanting, semi-autobiographical animated odyssey from legendary filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki was once thought to be the director’s swansong – but thankfully, he has already began preparations on what is destined to be another classic.

The Boy and the Heron is pure Studio Ghibli magic – a thought-provoking, endlessly imaginative coming-of-age tale, which whisks us away on a deeply moving ethereal adventure.

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