Dir: Hayao Miyazaki
Soma Santoki, Masaki Suda, Takuya Kimura, Aimyon, Kô Shibasaki
124 mins

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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