In this hauntingly beautiful animation, meticulous attention is given to the intricacies of the characters rather than prioritising the storytelling itself.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | May 13, 2024

In his 12th feature, Miyazaki seeks comfort in the familiar, assured by the knowledge that even a mildly underwhelming movie from an animation genius has no shortage of enchantment or emotional payoffs.

Full Review | May 10, 2024

Hayao Miyazaki's cinema speaks to the budding adult in a child as well as the lingering child in an adult.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | May 10, 2024

Japanese culture and spiritually have always provided a potent well from which Miyazaki draws his filmic inspiration. Boy and the Heron is no different and returns him to the fantastical roots that made Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke such successes.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Apr 7, 2024

"The worldbuilding is so beautifully explored, but the resolution by contrast feels a little bit abrupt and rushed... [still] a beautiful ride with a tremendous magical feeling."

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 21, 2024

Miyazaki's potential swan song returns to grim subtexts in this increasingly strange fantasy about loss, grief, and transitioning into the sorrowful world of adulthood.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 12, 2024

I have been doing this long enough to recognize a great movie when I see one, and The Boy and the Heron, a haunting, admirably tough jewel from a master storyteller, is a great movie. Watch it take flight.

Full Review | Mar 11, 2024

Japanese manga master Hayao Miyazaki, 83, came out of retirement for this hand-drawn beauty about his own life growing up in wartime. The Oscar for best animated feature belongs right here since Miyazaki’s unparalleled artistry shines out of every frame.

Full Review | Feb 23, 2024

Miyazaki doesn't come with moralistic answers to the question of how to live and confront problems, but rather leaves us with more questions and reflections. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Feb 23, 2024

“The Boy and the Heron” is largely self-indulgent. If this does end up being his last film – and touch wood if so! – then the film would mark a masterful capstone to Hayao Miyazaki's career.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Feb 19, 2024

If you can flow with the feelings behind the movie and see it as a well-observed version of the psyche of a fragile and traumatized child, you will find much to enjoy and, as if it were a dream, you may find yourself thinking about it for days after.

Full Review | Feb 8, 2024

If The Boy and the Heron is the period on the sentence of Miyazaki’s esteemed career, then he will have ended well.

Full Review | Jan 29, 2024

Stunning to behold, evoking a classic Japanese woodcut brought to life and infused with a powerful spirit of its own; though enhanced and aided by modern technology, the animation is hand-drawn, making its visual perfection even more breathtaking.

Full Review | Jan 25, 2024

Miyazaki, also the author of the script, returns to the imagery that inhabits his filmography and delivers an impressive work. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 100/100 | Jan 12, 2024

It's endlessly inventive, conjuring up fantastic, uncanny, and often unsettling imagery at every turn, as if it were all effortless.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Jan 12, 2024

What follows is a journey so complex and fascinating, that it needs more than one viewing to be fully assimilated. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Jan 11, 2024

Intricate, unsettling, and fascinating. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Jan 11, 2024

Birds of a feather

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 11, 2024

The Boy and the Heron explores the emotions of a young boy as he navigates a new world and emotions. It shows us that there is always room to grow, learn, face the horror and come back to reality with a whole new perspective of the world.

Full Review | Jan 11, 2024

... A film that is as heartbreaking as it is sweet and beautiful. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jan 8, 2024