Movies that feel likeThe Boy and the Heron (2023)

Name: The Boy and the Heron
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Genre: animation, fantasy, drama
Released: 2023

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."

If you loved The Boy and the Heron, the closest films we have are The Fabelmans (2022), Aftersun (2022) and The Hand of God (2021). All three share The Boy and the Heron's contemplative and wistful feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies (2024).

🍅 96% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.3 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Hayao Miyazakidreamlike contemplative melancholy wistful

8 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Peacock Premium

Can't choose? Answer three questions and get one movie for tonight.

Stream it:HBO Max ↗

Rent or buy:Amazon see price ↗Apple TV

See it on the Mood Map

When is The Boy and the Heron streaming? →

If The Boy and the Heron hit the spot, these will too

The Fabelmans

2022 · dir. Steven Spielberg

🍅 92%★ 7.5dramaPeacock

Both are working the same pair: growing up, teenage boy

The difference: Easier on the melancholy than The Boy and the Heron

Growing up in post-World War II era Arizona, young Sammy Fabelman aspires to become a filmmaker as he reaches adolescence, but soon discovers a shattering family secret and explores how the power of films can help him see the truth.

Aftersun

2022 · dir. Charlotte Wells

🍅 96%★ 7.6dramaRent or buy

The same preoccupation in both: growing up

Sophie reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father twenty years earlier. Memories fill the gaps between camcorder footages as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the troubled man she didn't.

The Hand of God

2021 · dir. Paolo Sorrentino

🍅 83%★ 7.3dramaNetflix

The same two preoccupations: poverty, and semi autobiographical

In 1980s Naples, an awkward teen struggling to find his place experiences heartbreak and liberation after he's inadvertently saved from a freak accident by football legend Diego Maradona.

Mommy

2014 · dir. Xavier Dolan

🍅 89%★ 8drama

Dreamlike and contemplative in the same breath

A peculiar neighbor offers hope to a recent widow who is struggling to raise a teenager who is unpredictable and, sometimes, violent.

Before I Fall

2017 · dir. Ry Russo-Young

🍅 64%★ 6.4drama · fantasyStarz

Melancholy fantasy in both cases

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

Samantha Kingston has everything. Then, everything changes. After one fateful night, she wakes up with no future at all. Trapped into reliving the same day over and over, she begins to question just how perfect her life really was.

Mirror

1975 · dir. Andrei Tarkovsky

🍅 100%★ 7.9drama · history

One thread runs through both: world war ii

The difference: Sits closer to history than The Boy and the Heron does

A dying man in his forties recalls his childhood, his mother, the war and personal moments that tell of and juxtapose pivotal moments in Soviet history with daily life.

How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies

2024 · dir. Pat Boonnitipat

🍅 98%★ 7.9dramaNetflix

Drama with a pulse of wistfulness, in both cases

M, a university dropout low on money and luck, volunteers to take care of his terminally ill grandmother, in the hope of pocketing an inheritance.

Leave No Trace

2018 · dir. Debra Granik

🍅 100%★ 7.1drama

Both lean on stillness more than on animation

A father and daughter live a perfect but mysterious existence in Forest Park, a beautiful nature reserve near Portland, Oregon, rarely making contact with the world. But when a small mistake tips them off to authorities, they are sent on an increasingly erratic journey in search of a place to call their own.

All the Bright Places

2020 · dir. Brett Haley

🍅 67%★ 6.6romance · dramaNetflix

Drama built on melancholy, twice over

The difference: Leans harder into romance than The Boy and the Heron does

Two teens facing personal struggles form a powerful bond as they embark on a cathartic journey chronicling the wonders of Indiana.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

2012 · dir. Stephen Chbosky

🍅 85%★ 7.9dramaPrime Video

Both are built on the same subject: teenage boy

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1991. High school freshman Charlie is a wallflower, always watching life from the sidelines, until two senior students, Sam and her stepbrother Patrick, become his mentors, helping him discover the joys of friendship, music and love.

Drive My Car

2021 · dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi

🍅 97%★ 7.5dramaRent or buy

Common ground: grief

Yusuke Kafuku, a stage actor and director, still unable, after two years, to cope with the loss of his beloved wife, accepts to direct Uncle Vanya at a theater festival in Hiroshima. There he meets Misaki, an introverted young woman, appointed to drive his car. In between rides, secrets from the past and heartfelt confessions will be unveiled.

Malena

2000 · dir. Giuseppe Tornatore

🍅 54%★ 7.4drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: world war ii

The difference: Made in the 2000s, in a different era of the craft

12-year-old Renato experiences three significant events on the same day: the beginning of the Second World War, getting a bike, and witnessing the arrival of the gorgeous Malèna. Through his eyes, we see the curse of beauty and loneliness of Malena, whose husband is presumed dead, and, through his soul, we see his love for her.