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You can stream The Boy and the Heron (2023) on Max with a subscription.

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."

Can a grieving boy navigate a surreal landscape of talking birds and crumbling magic to find his place in a fractured world? This hand-drawn odyssey trades traditional logic for a vivid, subconscious dreamscape that feels both ancient and startlingly new.

Trailer