While the Second World War rages, the teenage Mahito, haunted by his mother's tragic death, is relocated from Tokyo to the serene rural home of his new stepmother Natsuko, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to the boy's mother. As he tries to adjust, this strange new world grows even stranger following the appearance of a persistent gray heron, who perplexes and bedevils Mahito, dubbing him the "long-awaited one."
Where to Watch The Boy and the Heron
- VarunOctober 19, 2024I watched this in theatres because it’s a rare opportunity to catch a Miyazaki film in IMAX. I seem to be in the minority of people who just can’t get on the hype train for this movie. Beautiful animation and an imaginative world isn’t enough to save a lame boring story. I couldn’t decipher a single theme or meaningful moment in the entire runtime no matter how hard I tried. It just meanders aimlessly and you aren’t rewarded for your patience. If someone tells me the story was a metaphor for something, it still doesn’t excuse writing bland characters and building a world with no rules to it. It’s crazy to me that I didn’t have even an ounce of fun watching a Studio Ghibli film (cue the gif of Homelander sitting stone-faced in a theatre). There’s not that much dialogue and the pacing is all over the place. I usually like watching YouTube videos explaining films but I’m not even going to bother with this snoozefest. Pretty visuals for 2 hours alone can’t immerse me when the plot is so hollow I have nothing to connect to. I haven’t been this disappointed at the theatres in a long time.
- MetroidTalonAugust 22, 2025Miyazaki returns with a deeply personal and beautifully strange tale that blends grief, fantasy, and memory into something haunting and heartfelt. The Boy and the Heron isn’t always easy to follow, but it never stops captivating. The animation is breathtaking, filled with surreal imagery and quiet emotional weight. It feels less like a traditional story and more like a dream being worked out in real time. A meditative farewell that lingers long after the credits roll.
- Jimmy GlavinAugust 7, 2026Another absolute classic from the GOAT Miyazaki… the animation is, as always, gorgeous and the storytelling is both fantastical and emotionally compelling. The characters are well-crafted, the pacing is solid, and the set pieces (action scenes?) are all as powerful as they are beautiful. It’s also, like many Miyazaki movies, kind of confusing at times for the non-Japanese, in that I have to imagine that there’s cultural symbolism and specific meaning to plot elements and objects in the story I’m not aware of, but the core metaphors are certainly understandable universally. Overall this is a beautifully rendered coming-of-age story with all the charm, wit, and magic we’ve come to expect from Miyazaki. Virtually all of his films are 10s in my eyes, so I’ll just say that it ranks among his best - perhaps as good as Spirited Away, but not the sweeping epic and masterpiece that is Princess Mononoke. Definitely recommend a watch.
- Kevin WardJuly 1, 2025Unmistakably a Hayao Miyazaki film with gorgeous animation, a trippy, dream logic adventure, and some of the most hideous depictions of old people ever. Didn’t love it on first watch, but most Miyazaki films grow on me over time. Saw the English dub, and Pattinson’s voice work is wild.
- PapaHamzehApril 2, 2025I'm gonna get thrashed for every one of these Ghibli movies I rate. And that's OK. I accept my punishment from the masses. Ghibli movies are like the Nintendo games of film; a rabid fan base that will, time and time again, show up for their turn at the watering hole and come away saying 'Gee I'm glad I got to drink that, whatever it was!' In my experience, the movies are Big Concept but the bag is fumbled in execution. I want to be clear: I think they are beautiful, I think they are well designed...and that may be it. The philosophical discussions often feel like stream-of-consciousness that leads to nowhere in particular. The themes frequently are put upon the table in high fashion, but I never see anyone really pig out of the food, so to speak. This movie was beautiful. Truly. And it got weirder and weirder, which I absolutely love. The voice acting was...pretty good (bait and switch by a certain BIG casting choice was irritating). Overall, my turn at the watering hole made me think 'Well. I certainly drank something and now my mouth is wet.'
- CubaneMay 12, 2026This is a seriously weird movie. Am I just along for the ride on Miyazaki's latest acid trip? It tries to explore some pretty heavy themes like grief and loss, but it does it in such a confounding and esoteric manner that any meaning beyond the superficial is missed. It's also more than enough to give your brain months of future nightmare fuel material. Some may find this to be a desirable quality, but I cannot see why.
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The Boy and the Heron was released on July 14, 2023.
The Boy and the Heron was directed by Hayao Miyazaki.
The Boy and the Heron has a runtime of 2h 4m.
The Boy and the Heron was produced by Toshio Suzuki.
While the Second World War rages, the teenage Mahito, haunted by his mother's tragic death, is relocated from Tokyo to the serene rural home of his new stepmother Natsuko, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to the boy's mother. As he tries to adjust, this strange new world grows even stranger following the appearance of a persistent gray heron, who perplexes and bedevils Mahito, dubbing him the "long-awaited one."
The key characters in The Boy and the Heron are Mahito Maki (voice) (Soma Santoki), Gray Heron (voice) (Masaki Suda), Kiriko (voice) (Ko Shibasaki).
The Boy and the Heron is rated PG-13.
The Boy and the Heron is an Animation, Adventure, Drama film.
The Boy and the Heron has an audience rating of 7.3 out of 10.
The Boy and the Heron had a budget of $50M.
The Boy and the Heron has made $294.2M at the box office.