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Celluloid

The Boy and the Heron

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki · 2023 ·

Answer Summary: Is The Boy and the Heron worth watching?

The Boy and the Heron (2023) earns a 71% Celluloid Score — Recommended. Recommended — recommended by most critics and audiences.Critics and audiences are closely aligned on this one.

Quick Verdict: What is the Celluloid Score for The Boy and the Heron?

Averaged from five public sources (critic, audience, Metascore, Letterboxd, IMDb). See how we calculate scores.

71%
Celluloid Score Recommended

Five-source breakdown

74% Critic Score
77% Audience
63 Metascore
★★★☆☆ Letterboxd 3.4
7.4 IMDb /10
Runtime
2h 4m
Cast
Soma Santoki , Masaki Suda , Ko Shibasaki , Aimyon , Yoshino Kimura , Takuya Kimura , Keiko Takeshita , Jun Fubuki , Sawako Agawa , Karen Takizawa
Where to watch in Indonesia
Netflix

🏆 1 award win — Won Best Animated Feature, Academy Awards 2024

Where to watch in Indonesia

  • Netflix

Why this score?

  • Majority of critics rated it fresh (74%).
  • General viewers mostly liked it (77%).
  • Metascore is generally favorable (63/100).
  • Celluloid Score 71% averages all five public rating sources — our own composite, not a third-party trademark score.

Best for

  • Fans of Animation

Not ideal for

  • Viewers who only watch top-tier, 90%+ rated films

Scores reflect data indexed at build time. Component sources are shown on this page; Celluloid Score is our composite, not a third-party trademark. Scoring policy

Is The Boy and the Heron worth watching?

Yes — The Boy and the Heron earns a 71% Celluloid Score. Recommended — recommended by most critics and audiences.

Critics Consensus

Miyazaki’s late-career fantasy — Oscar Best Animated Feature — layers personal history under surreal adventure.

Celluloid Critics Consensus

Critics and audiences are closely aligned on this one.

What is The Boy and the Heron about?

While the Second World War rages, the teenage Mahito, haunted by his mother's tragic death, is relocated from Tokyo to the serene rural home of his new stepmother Natsuko, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to the boy's mother. As he tries to adjust, this strange new world grows even stranger following the appearance of a persistent gray heron, who perplexes and bedevils Mahito, dubbing him the "long-awaited one."

Critic Reviews

critic The Boy and the Heron

The Boy and the Heron (2023) Review

Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron (2023) remains a defining Animation landmark from Japan, with scores that still shape how audiences discover the title.

Worth watching — solid entertainment with lasting cultural visibility.

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