The Athena is excited to present the THE BOY AND THE HERON for Sibs Weekend 2024!

About the film

Set during WWII, THE BOY AND THE HERON tells the story of Mahito Maki, a young boy who loses his mother and is evacuated with his father from the city to the country to escape the ravages of war. Mahito, burdened by grief and struggling to adjust to his new surroundings, finds himself pestered by a grey heron. While pursuing the bird, Mahito is led to a strange stone tower where he discovers that the structure and the bird are gateways to a world beyond his imagination.

Having announced retirement almost a decade ago, Hayao Miyazaki instead persevered and began storyboarding THE BOY AND THE HERON in 2016 — it seemed that he had one final, fantastic story to tell. In production for nearly seven years and, allegedly, the most expensive film ever made in Japan, Miyazaki’s latest (and last) film has been hailed by critics as a masterpiece of animation filled with characters and themes that exemplify the breadth of Miyazaki’s illustrious career as one of the greatest animators and storytellers in the entertainment industry.