Fantasy has many faces. There is currently a lot of epic high fantasy in the live-action sector with The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and House of the Dragon. But who Fantasy, magic and fairytale atmosphere loves, knows that there are absolute gems full of magic hidden in the animation sector. However, one of these gems was a long time coming online.
It wasn’t just fantasy fans who were overjoyed when it was announced that Studio Ghibli legend Hayao Miyazaki would make another film despite his declared retirement. His autobiographical fairy tale The Boy and the Heron then rang along stunning images and touching moments the year 2024. Now you can stream the film with a subscription on Netflix for the first time.
The Boy and the Heron sends us on a thrilling adventure into a strange world full of dangers
Mahito wants to go home. But this home no longer exists. Like so many parts of Japan, it was destroyed in World War II. He also lost his mother in the inferno. That’s why he and his father are in a property in the country moved to start over – together with Aunt Natsuko, whom her father married just like that.
For Mahito it feels like a betrayal. There is an endless amount of sadness, fear and anger inside him, but he can’t really face them. Until him mysterious gray heron breaks out of his state of shock. The animal seems to be targeting him. When it even starts to talk, Mahito decides to find out more about this monster.
His search leads him to the old villa near the property, whose entrances have been sealed. What he would find there was something he could never have imagined in his wildest dreams. He enters a strange world beyond his own. Time runs differently here and the dead lead lives of their own. In search of his mother and answers, Mahito embarks on an odyssey filled with… Miracles, trials and dangers.
The Boy and the Heron on Netflix is Ghibli magic full of bittersweet feelings and brilliant images
The Boy and the Heron may not be as accessible as other Ghibli classics. You shouldn’t expect a cuddly Totoro here. But the film leaves you speechless from the first second. What is captured here hand-drawn on the canvas and brought to life, deserves nothing less than awe.
That starts with them deeply human charactersfor whom Miyazaki always had a knack and who touch our hearts with their unmistakable characteristics, facial expressions and gestures. But the otherworld into which we are taken here, including all of its bizarre, funny, frightening inhabitants, is also a gallery of incomparable images.
With elbows rightly out, The Boy and the Heron pushes aside Pixar sequels and generic blockbusters. Positions itself as a representative of an art that must not die out and never will, not least thanks to Ghibli. As the epitome of what people are for through their imagination and their craft are capable. Miyazaki makes us dream, laugh, cry – marvel again.
If you want to escape the gray of everyday life with Studio Ghibli’s latest masterpiece, you can from today on Netflix.