The Boy and the Heron was my most anticipated film of the 48th Toronto International Film Festival. I was not alone in my excitement for this film. It was the fastest-selling movie in the festival’s history and despite having several screenings, most people won’t see it until December and it’s a real shame because this film is fantastic. Hayao Miyazaki is undeniably the master of animated film, and this beautiful hand-drawn film showcases all of his talent. While not as good as Spirited Away, arguably the greatest animated film of all time, The Boy and the Heron is still better than most of Miyazaki’s films and the perfect film to end his legendary career.

The story is the most fascinating part of this movie. It’s wholly original and while very confusing at times, it’s easy to remain engaged thanks to the sheer beauty of the film. While the story is about dealing with the loss of a loved one at a young age, this film also incorporates war, a magical castle, a talking heron, and a dreamlike spirit world. The story almost plays like a “greatest hits” album of Studio Ghibli’s work, of which Miyazaki is a co-founder, but I don’t mind it at all because it is elegant, original, and beautiful to behold.

The characters, as always, are stellar. While the emotions of every character are well done by their respective actors, it’s the Heron who stands out above all else. He is instantly one of my favourite Ghibli characters up there with Howl, Tottoro, and Chichiro. He starts off as a somewhat frightening character before becoming the source of comedic relief and some of the most heartfelt moments. I only hope whoever voices him in the English dub can bring that same energy to the Heron as actor Masaki Suda. 

It wouldn’t be a proper Ghibli review without talking about the visuals. Even though it’s 2023 and Miyazaki could pump out maybe quintuple the films using computers in the time it took to hand draw The Boy and the Heron, he insists on hand drawing every frame and I think it’s for the best. Every single detail, including shadows and moving water in the distant background, don’t go unnoticed. The characters are colourful and full of life. The parakeets are some of the cutest creatures in the Ghibli universe and it’s largely because of their simplistic design and hand-drawn look. When you realize it took ten years to animate this absolutely stunning film, you look at it in a whole different light and realize how talented Miyazaki and his crew are.

My biggest complaint about this film, and what holds it back from greatness, is the runtime. At just over two hours, this is an extremely long animated film, and I found the pacing to bulk up at some parts which made the movie fumble a bit. I’m all for more Ghibli but I’d rather focus on quality and not quantity. This movie could have been 30 minutes shorter, and I would have probably given it a perfect score.

The Boy and the Heron is another winner for Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. It’s the only movie that will give Across the Spider-Verse a run for its money as Best Animated Feature and it’s the best film to open TIFF in years, and maybe the best to open the fest, period. If this really is Hayao Miyazaki’s last film (recent reports say otherwise) he went out with a bang.