Mai Cachila

The movie “The Boy and the Heron” released on Dec. 8 in theaters tells the story of a young boy coping with the loss of his mother and the secrets he discovers about his family’s past, which ultimately bring him closer to accepting his mothers absence. The film is heartwarming and is the perfect final film from the director Hayao Miyazaki.

As I walked into the Cedar Park Cinema on Dec. 26 with my friend, I carried a high expectation for the film we were planning to see. The 7-year-old inside of me was beaming with excitement to see the final film from a director that had held such a big spot in my childhood.

The film “The Boy and the Heron” was released on Dec. 8 and is still being shown in theaters. The director, Hayao Miyazaki, announced the creation of his final film originally called “How do You Live?” back in 2016 and I was anticipating the release all the way up until its release date. The movie is about a boy, Mohito, who loses his mother in a civilian hospital attack during war. He then moves with his father to the countryside where his aunt, his mothers younger sister,  steps in to be his new mother and is to marry his father. 

Some of Miyazaki’s other films consist of “Spirited Away,” “Howl’s Moving Castle,” “Ponyo” and many other films brought by Studio Ghibli. A part of me almost didn’t want to see the movie because I was scared it would not live up to his past films that I found so magical as a kid and became my comfort movies. My older sister and I had talked about the film for years and my hopes were high that this would revive and heal my inner child. 

Lately, every time I have seen a movie, the theater has not been more than half full, but the showing for this movie brought in a full crowd of people. Seeing this made me happy that other people care to see his final film. The movie starts with the hospital his mother was in catchingon fire and him running to the building and watching the whole thing in flames. Right from the start, my nerves were eased because of the beautiful animation. Even in a moment of chaos and death, the screen was filled with surreal images and I watched in awe. Mahito, voiced by Lucien Dodge, and the heron, voiced by Robert Pattinson, enter a different world where they unveil Mahito’s family secrets. The film, like his others, transports you into a completely different place, the creativity and attention to detail is incredible. 

I think that most people or those who aren’t familiar with Miyazaki’s work would find “The Boy and the Heron’’ strange as there are talking parakeets who try to kill Mahito and the whole world they are visiting depends on  balancing shapes on a table that control a giant floating rock, and yet the film convinces you that it makes sense. Something different in this film that I noticed were the horror elements added, it wasn’t necessarily scary but there were parts that were more violent than his past films. I enjoyed this change and thought it made the film stand out from his others. This film also had many details that were similar to his past movies that were recognizable the second they came on screen.

I really liked this movie and the ending brought me to tears when I realized that it was an abrupt end to my childhood and I would never see a new Miyazaki film again. I recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys unique works and loves fantasy.