The Boy and the Heron

Hayao Miyazaki is one of the most beloved creative voices in cinema, and with The Boy and the Heron he delivers one of his very best films. An utterly gorgeous animated tale that acts as Miyazaki’s life affirming leap of faith into the future of the world, and a plea to the generations below him to go and build something better from the rubble of the stones laid by his generation. With a score so beautiful it will make your heart soar and visuals so bizarre and magical they’ll have you utterly captivated, this is an extremely special film, as many of Studio Ghibli’s films are. An enchanting adventure through loss, love and the past, Mahito’s journey through the magical world he encounters is a journey like no other. This is one of the masterpieces of the 2020s and it will be absolutely wonderful to see it on the big screen again, where it belongs.

Ollie Lambert

Miyazaki returns, the man just cannot rest, and it’s a good thing too (I need not mention the absolute catastrophe that was Earwig and the Witch), because we’re not tired of him yet. The Boy and The Heron follows the character of Mahito, a 12-year-old boy, who, after losing his mother, embarks on a journey through a world inhabited by the living and the dead, guided by a mysterious and intimidating grey heron. The film is semi-autobiographical and partly based on Miyazaki’s own life and experiences during and after the second world war. A deeply personal and emotional film with classic Ghibli depictions of spirits and mystical creatures, The Boy and the Heron has an element of Spirited Away about it, the Oscar winning 2001 film that made Miyazaki an internationally recognised name. Miyazaki’s passion and love for animation provides all the heart in his films and is no doubt the reason why the man just won’t quit - The Boy and the Heron marks the 4th film he’s directed after he initially intended to retire in 2002, after the release of Spirited Away

Marnie McCrudden