Film guide
- Adventure
- Drama
- Fantasy
- Stars
- Robert Pattinson · Christian Bale · Florence Pugh
Images: GKIDS Films
Where to watch The Boy and the Heron
Streaming options in the United States, updated Oct 24, 2026. More from hbomax.com. Service logos are trademarks of their owners.
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Miyazaki’s last film, and the one he refused to market
The strangest thing about The Boy and the Heron’s release is how little Studio Ghibli told anyone about it before it opened. Toho released it in Japanese theaters on July 14, 2023 behind a single teaser poster and no trailer at all — a deliberate choice by Hayao Miyazaki, who wanted an audience to walk in with no expectations. GKIDS, the film’s US distributor, kept the same approach for the American release that December, cutting the first real US trailer only weeks before the December 8, 2023 premiere.
The story: Mahito, a boy grieving his mother during wartime Japan, follows a talking grey heron into a tower that opens onto a world shared by the living and the dead, populated by, among other things, a kingdom of man-eating parakeets ruled by a king voiced by Dave Bautista. It is Miyazaki’s most openly autobiographical film — Mahito’s evacuation to the countryside echoes Miyazaki’s own wartime childhood — and also his strangest structurally, closer to dream logic than the cleaner adventure arcs of Spirited Away or Howl’s Moving Castle.
Watch it in either language — HBO Max carries both. The original Japanese track with English subtitles is the version that won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature; the English dub GKIDS recorded for the US release — Christian Bale, Robert Pattinson, Florence Pugh, Gemma Chan, Mark Hamill, Willem Dafoe and Dave Bautista — was built as its own performance rather than a line-for-line translation. The production record has the full cast and crew. For another acclaimed anime film, our Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle guide covers the biggest anime theatrical release since.
The Boy and the Heron cast 12
- Soma SantokiMahito Maki
Robert PattinsonThe Grey Heron
Karen FukuharaLady Himi
Gemma ChanNatsuko
Christian BaleShoichi Maki
Mark HamillGranduncle
Florence PughKiriko
Willem DafoeNoble Pelican
Dave BautistaThe Parakeet King- Keiko TakeshitaIzumi (Maid #1)
Barbara RosenblatUtako (Maid #2)- Melora HarteEriko (Maid #3)
- Director
- Hayao Miyazaki
- Writer
- Hayao Miyazaki
- Music
- Kenshi Yonezu, Joe Hisaishi
- Studios
- Studio Ghibli
Photos via Wikimedia Commons. Robert Pattinson: Colleen Sturtevant, CC BY-SA 4.0; Karen Fukuhara: Kevin Paul, CC BY 4.0; Gemma Chan: Harald Krichel, CC BY-SA 4.0; Christian Bale: Harald Krichel, CC BY-SA 4.0; Mark Hamill: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0; Florence Pugh: Frank Sun, CC BY-SA 4.0; Willem Dafoe: Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0; Dave Bautista: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0; Barbara Rosenblat: Montclair Film, CC BY 2.0.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I watch The Boy and the Heron?
On HBO Max in the US with a subscription, checked October 24, 2026.
When did The Boy and the Heron come out?
December 8, 2023 in US theaters and IMAX, from GKIDS, with preview screenings from November 22. Toho released it in Japan five months earlier, on July 14, 2023, with no trailer.
How long is The Boy and the Heron?
124 minutes.
Is The Boy and the Heron in Japanese or English?
Both, and HBO Max carries both. The original Japanese track with English subtitles is the version that won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature; GKIDS also recorded a full English dub with Christian Bale, Dave Bautista, Gemma Chan, Willem Dafoe, Karen Fukuhara, Robert Pattinson and Florence Pugh.
Is The Boy and the Heron connected to Hayao Miyazaki’s other films?
Not as a sequel. It shares recurring Miyazaki images, like birds as guides and a doorway between worlds, with Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle, but it tells its own story and needs nothing watched first.
