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The Boy and the Heron (2023)

 


The Boy and the Heron is the latest and perhaps the last entry in Miyazaki's great set of films.

The semi-autobiographical fantasy is borderline a masterpiece. I will refrain from using the, now cliche, word "triumph" because it makes me cringe whenever I hear or see a critic use it. Hayao Miyazaki will go down as one of the best directors of all time with zero bad films. Spielberg will regret The BFG or the Crystal Skull. Fincher will regret Alien 3, and so on. 

The film has just enough hints at the underlying story to keep you engaged as to what happened in Miyazaki's life but is still interesting enough to overload your eyes with visual candy. It's also oddly funny at times which seemed intentional and memorable. 

It also has a stellar cast with Christian Bale, Dave Bautista, Gemma Chan, Willem Dafoe, Mark Hamill, Robert Pattinson, and Florence Pugh. The best was oddly enough Dave Bautista as The Parakeet King which I absolutely want a plush for one day.

It's hard to grade a film like this. I would absolutely watch the film a second time. I would recommend it to anyone and it's a great film. Result: A

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