World War II is underway and Mahito lives in Tokyo with his parents. One night, the hospital, where his mother works, is left in flames after bombing. His mother dies in the fire. Soon after, his father Soichi (Christian Bale) relocates the family out of Tokyo to his wife's family's estate. He has since remarried Natsuko (Gemma Chan), who happens to be his dead wife's younger sister. No sooner have they arrived on the estate than a gray heron starts paying inordinate attention to Mahito. He soon finds that it is a magical talking heron (Robert Pattison), which wavers between friend and foe. The property has an old tower where his granduncle (Mark Hamill) went missing years ago. There is also of story of his mother having vanished for a year in the tower only to return with no memory of the incident. Of course, Mahito must investigate.
Like all Ghibli movies, the art is outstanding. However, the story is lacking. Mahito believes his mother might still be alive, clearly not yet reconciled with her death. He does not get along with other kids at the local school and inflicts an injury to himself so that he won't have to go back. Now with more free time, he followed the heron into the mysterious tower where he enters a fantastical world of giant man-eating parakeets led by the Parakeet King (Dave Bautista), villainous pelicans (Willem Dafoe), a strangely familiar fisherwoman (Florence Pugh), and Lady Himi the fire woman. There are other bizarre denizens of this magical world that Mahito must navigate to save his stepmother and return home. It is often confusing.
Obviously, it is a must-see for any fan of Studio Ghibli, but it is one of the weaker offerings.
