Top Pick - The Boy and the Heron

Oscar Win: Awarded Best Animated Feature in 2024—a win it truly deserved! However, it was a tough category this year, with strong contenders like Nimona, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Elemental, and Robot Dreams.

  I had high hopes for this film, and it didn’t disappoint. Another Studio Ghibli masterpiece by Hayao Miyazaki, it's up there with Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. The main plot revolves around a young boy coming to terms with his mother’s tragic death. Though the pacing starts slowly, you're soon pulled into an imaginative world inhabited by parakeets that are adorable, hilarious, and terrifying, with a sinister intent to eat humans. The film also introduces other delightful creatures, like the Warawara—unborn human souls residing in the Sea World. Miyazaki is a master at blending reality with a dreamlike sensation, transporting you to different dimensions. The movie contains stories within stories, which can be a bit confusing, especially if you're half-asleep like I was.

What truly drives this film is the dialogue and the relationships between characters, which range from heartbreaking to funny and clever. The animation and musical score immerse the audience in its magic. Like most of Miyazaki’s films, the allegory is abstract and open to interpretation. The characters' motives are also ambiguous; for instance, why did Mahito smash the rock against his head? Was it for his father’s attention, an attempt to avoid going back to school, or an outlet for overwhelming emotions? I love that Miyazaki never spells it out, leaving it up to the audience to interpret. My sister described it best as “frightening and delightful!” This film is a beautifully woven piece of art.