The Boy and the Heron (2023 | Japan | 124 minutes | Hayao Miyazaki)

In what might be his final film, master Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki takes an autobiographical bow with The Boy and the Heron. As a capstone to a career it’s a must-see stunner that paints an enchanting and melancholic recollection of a kid confronting the tragedies of war, senseless death, loss of youth, and oh so many asshole birds. Set amid World War II, after the horrific death of his beloved mother to a burning firebombed hospital, a father and son (Mahito) retreat from the dangers of Tokyo. There, they settle into a country estate near the warplane factory where dad is an executive. It’s also home to the boy’s soon-to-be-mother (an aunt who’s already expecting), a cast of big-faced wrinkly elderly residents who delight at the bounty of canned meat and rice brought to them from the city, and an incredibly pesky grey heron who takes an unnatural interest in the visiting youth.

The elegant bird, albeit with wild eyes and a suspiciously toothy grin, lures him to an abandoned tower in the forest. The creature’s entry into that tower is easily the funniest bit of physical comedy I’ve seen all year. As it continues to pester Mahito, pecking on his window and shitting on the windowsill, increasingly incongruous encounters with nature raise questions about what’s going on and sets a mood of whimsical mystery tinged with potentially mortal menace.

Later, after some troubles at a new school, a head injury, and the disappearance of his aunt, like many Miyazaki protagonists before him, he finds something magical and dangerous there in the woods. Here, his gateway to soul-expanding adventures takes the form of an ancient alien trans-dimensional tower. His descent into this parallel reality brings surprising revelations about his guide, the nature of life and death, and an enchanted kingdom out of balance. He faces armies of menacing pelicans, meets past versions of familiar figures, encounters that magic and peril of life-bound souls, and navigates a world governed by mercurial rules. After a glut of soulless mainstream computer animation, each episode in Mahito’s journey brings the deep endearing pleasure of a master at work whose deceptively simple illustrations bring imagination to vibrant life. The character designs are whimsical, occasionally unsettling, and often very funny (if you’ve ever distrusted parakeets, this movie will confirm your suspicions) and the environments they encounter are stirring and mystical.

The film’s debut came with an announcement of Miyazaki’s planned retirement. In what was meant to be his final work, he weaves memories of his own childhood with threads from Genzaburo Yoshino’s How Do You Live?, his most beloved novel (and the film’s Japanese title). It is the work of a supreme storyteller reflecting on his own life and contemplating a world beyond his existence. Whether he’s lured back into more moviemaking, the film stands proudly among his best. A surreal, exquisitely animated journey, it confronts the biggest questions without easy answers.

The film is a rich text that that flourishes under repeat viewings. Although I swooned over the Japanese version that premiered at TIFF, I’m very tempted to see it again given that Studio Ghibli’s partnership with GKids includes a simultaneous release with newly-recorded English language voice acting from an incredible cast led by Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, and Robert Pattinson as the Heron. If nothing else it will open this world to parents who want their children to experience it, particularly if they’re too young to keep up with subtitles. I can’t wait to see and hear it what the new cast has done with the material.

The Boy and the Heron arrives in theaters on December 8, both in original Japanese audio as well as a star-studded English language dubbed version (check descriptions carefully).
A previous version of this review ran as part of our coverage of the Toronto International Film Festival where The Boy and the Heron had its international premiere.

I almost never post trailers, but this one for the english dubbed version is too irresistible not to include.