The Boy and the Heron

Released in theaters on December 18, 2023

Currently only in theaters

Runtime: 2 Hour 4 Minutes

Rated PG-13

After twelve year old Mahito (Christian Bale) loses his mother in a terrible fire he finds himself with anger and sorrow that he cannot process. His father, an air munitions factory owner during World War II, decides to marry his late wife’s sister. He then moves Mahito into his wife’s family estate. On the grounds Mahito meets a mischievous heron (Robert Pattinson) who informs him that his mother is actually not dead, but alive. Mahito follows the heron into an abandoned tower, which has mysterious urban legends attached to it’s creation. Upon entering the tower Mahito is cast into another world (think Alice in Wonderland and the hole she falls down).

Also starring the voice talents of Dave Bautista, Willem Dafoe, Mark Hamill, and Florence Pugh.

Themes:

Moving to a new town, death, loss, war, remarriage, fitting in, pregnancy, sorry, PTSD, bullying, disappearances, urban legends, herons, parakeets, carnivores, other worlds/dimensions, accepting that with life comes tragedy, there is always bad, no one is perfect, finding purpose, resilience, hate, malice, stages of grief, creating worlds, outer space, meteorites, and otherworldly creatures.

Language:

Not all Studio G movies have language, but this one did. “D*mn” was said twice and “Hell” was said twice. The words “heck no” and “darn it” were also said.

Stuff to be aware of: (Some of this could be considered spoilers, but probably not if you have watched the trailer for the movie)

If you have seen any Studio G movies you know some of the art and characters can be odd and possibly scary. This one is no exception. It is a bit more Spirited Away (but not as scary and intense) than Totoro. Here are a few things that might seem odd and even scary. The heron’s head is hiding a human face that comes out. Kind of like a costume. Sometimes you can see his teeth and his nose. Sometimes his entire head is out and the heron’s head is like a hood on a hoodie. It could be off putting to some when you see a heron with teeth. A giant fish like creature is caught and gutted causing the organs to spill out. There are very cartoon looking, man size parakeets that carry knives and intend to kill, cook, and eat people. They try to capture people and eat them multiple times in the later half of the movie.

There is some blood and death in the movie. In order to get attention, a boy hits himself in the side of a head with a rock. He hits himself very hard and blood gushes out. The wound gets sewed up, but it does not show this. There is a hospital that burns down. There are a few flashbacks/nightmares involving this fire event from early in the film. There is a pelican that gets burnt very badly and asks to be put out of his misery. He has stuff oozing out of him and he looks very rough. A boy gets covered in frogs.

Even as an adult I found some of these scenes to be intense, violent, and sometimes rather grotesque

There are a few scenes where a boy gets out of bed and he is wearing a shirt and boxers. He puts his pants on. Several characters smoke and a pack of cigarettes is used as a bargaining chip and seen as a treat.

Overall:

First, I have to mention how gorgeous this movie is. The animation is beautiful and the voice actors do a wonderful job sucking you even further into this surreal world where we find a young boy escaping his anger and tragedy through an adventure in a fantastical world. Robert Pattinson (Mr. Twilight himself) really surprised me in this film. His voice acting blew me away, I had to look up who he played. Once I found out he was the voice of the heron I could not believe it.

Miyazaki’s (the writer/director) creates a story that fantastically deals with the stages of grief, but also feels whimsical in the vein of Alice in Wonderland or Willy Wonka. Unlike those movies, this one is not aimed at children. The story was slightly confusing at parts, but I didn’t have any issue catching back up. It also starts a bit slowly and takes a little time before the world turns upside down.

Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki have made films that have emotionally and mentally made me feel unlike any other films I have watched. The world of The Boy and the Heron is no different. The world you enter into will engage the senses like never before and you will be taken somewhere else. A place you do not know.

The say the least, I really liked this one. It may be a but much for younger audiences, but upper middle school and older will find a rich and deep escape from reality here.