Movie Review: ‘The Boy and the Heron’

The new animated movie from Studio Ghibli is about a young boy dealing with grief and change.

When you see the names Studio Ghibli and especially company boss/master filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki attached to a film, it tends to be a stamp of quality that you can trust. Together they’ve put out some much-loved animated movies including ‘Spirited Away’, ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ and ‘My Neighbor Totoro’.

But while not every title is a winner –– even Miyazaki’s most recent film, one he made after announcing his retirement (‘The Wind Rises’) wasn’t seen as in the top tier of the company’s productions.

Still, it’s good to be able to report that ‘The Boy and the Heron’ is one of the most entertaining (and moving) films that Miyazaki has made in years.

Is ‘The Boy and the Heron’ worth flying to see?

‘The Boy and the Heron’ is Miyazaki back at the height of his powers for sure, hitting themes and concepts that have weaved through his and other Ghibli Studios movies. We’re introduced to our young protagonist at a particularly traumatic time of his life –– his mother has died when the hospital where she works was bombed in the Pacific War –– and he’s moving with his father so his dad can take up a new job (oh and marry his dead wife’s younger sister which would be a lot for any child to deal with!)

As he explores his new home, he discovers family secrets and, somewhat naturally, a mysterious fantasy world full of strange creatures. But it’s all brought so beautifully to life that you won’t ever mind some familiar ingredients –– Miyazaki and his team have weaved another beguiling tale here that has lots of charm and a real emotional punch.

And, of course, the primarily hand-drawn animation (with a little dusting of digital magic here and there) is stunning to look at.

‘The Boy and the Heron’: Script and Direction

Miyazaki has described this as semi-autobiographical and while he puts the same level of care and attention into everything he makes, you can sense the extra levels of motivation here and the fact that he’s drawing from life again.

There is a lightness of touch to Miyazaki’s writing that even survives the translation process (for the record, we have seen the movie twice –– once in the original Japanese and in the dubbed version with the likes of Christian Bale and Willem Dafoe lending their voices). Opening in dramatic fashion, the film captures the horror of war but then gives way to more of a mystery story, our young protagonist slowly figuring out what is going on with the strange house he’s now living and the portal he discovers.

And while there are heavy themes of dealing with grief, loss and a seismic shifts in life, there is also room for humor, with the Heron in particular a fun character who causes no end of trouble for our hero when his otherworld form is revealed.

On the visual front, it’s naturally lush and lavish, creating some truly original shots. If there is any real criticism to be made, it’s that certain sequences are drawn out perhaps longer than they can, including a sequence of bubble-like spirits hoping to be born in our world (any similarities to Pixar’s ‘Soul’ on this front are entirely coincidental, and even here the Ghibli team makes it distinct).

'The Boy and the Heron’: Performances

A lot of the heavy lifting here is carried by main character Mahito (Soma Santoki in the Japanese version; Luca Padovan in the English-language translation), who goes on his fantastical journey and learns plenty of lessons about his own history and dealing with the world.

In Miyazaki’s careful hands, he’s never a bratty character even given his situation, and shows real growth as he makes his way through the alternate world and discovers his true potential destiny there.

Around Mahito, there is a big group of oddball characters, be they chatty, militaristic parakeets or the troublemaking Heron. In both the Japanese and English-language versions, the voice roles are wrangled well. Though animation, particularly anime, has the tendency to push the heightened voice performances to a distracting degree, in ‘The Boy and the Heron’, they really complement the visuals well and bring the characters to life with either stately grace or comic energy.

'The Boy and the Heron’: Final Thoughts

At a time when the likes of the ‘Spider-Verse’ movies and ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem’ are pushing the boundaries in the CG world, it’s reassuring to know that Studio Ghibli can still make masterpieces in the hand-drawn, 2D arena.

This is a beautiful, haunting and visually dynamic movie that is perfect for family viewing.

Mostly, ‘The Boy and the Heron’ just makes us glad that Miyazaki didn’t completely retire from the world of filmmaking. And if this is to be his swansong, it’s a wonderful movie to go out on.

‘The Boy and the Heron’ receives 8 out of 10 stars.

The Boy and the Heron

"Where death comes to an end, life finds a new beginning."

PG-132 hr 4 minDec 8th, 2023

Showtimes & Tickets

Watch The Boy and the Heron Online

What’s the story of ‘The Boy and the Heron’?

The plot of the film follows a young boy named Mahito longing for his mother ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead.

There, death comes to an end, and life finds a new beginning.

The movie is described as “a semi-autobiographical fantasy about life, death and creation, in tribute to friendship, from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki.”