Opened: July 14, 2023

Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki

Japanese Voice Cast: Soma Santoki, Masaki Suda, Aimyon, Yoshino Kimura, Takuya Kimura, Shōhei Hino, Ko Shibasaki, Kaoru Kobayashi, Jun Kunimura, Keiko Takeshita, Jun Fubuki, Sawako Agawa, Shinobu Otake & Karen Takizawa

English Voice Cast: Luca Padovan, Robert Pattinson, Karen Fukuhara, Gemma Chan, Christian Bale, Mark Hamill, Florence Pugh, Willem Dafoe, Dave Bautista, Denise Pickering, Barbara Rosenblat, Melora Harte, Barbara Goodson, Mamoudou Athie, Tony Revolori & Dan Stevens

A stunning visual journey of grief, The Boy and the Heron is sometimes hard to follow – especially for those newer to the worlds of Hayao Miyazaki – but that doesn’t take away from the artistic achievements.

Two years after losing his mother in the Pacific War, Mahito Maki (Soma Santoki/Luca Padovan) moves with his father Shoichi (Takuya Kimura/Christian Bale) to his new wife’s (Toshino Kimura/Gemma Chan) estate. A strange Grey Heron (Masaki Suda/Robert Pattinson) leads Mahito to a mysterious tower on the property.

With the heron and Kiriko (Ko Shibasaki/Florence Pugh), Mahito goes on journeys through extensive worlds. They’re fully realized and feature interesting characters, but you might get to a point where you just don’t comprehend where Mahito is or what his goal is.

Final say: Entrancing from the start, but also too much to process. ★★★★☆