PRINCESS MONONOKE

A towering achievement in animation and storytelling (and once upon a time, Japan’s all-time box-office champion), Princess Mononoke brings the sweeping ambition of myth and the ferocity of environmental conflict to vivid life. Here’s your chance to revisit the masterpiece with English subtitles and in a gorgeous 4K restoration.

Set in a mystical reimagining of the Muromachi period (1336–1573)—a time of political upheaval, the rise of industry, and man’s growing encroachment on nature—the film follows Ashitaka, the last prince of the vanishing Emishi people. Cursed by a demon-boar god, he journeys west in search of a cure, only to find himself caught between the iron-forging human settlement of Iron Town, ruled by the determined Lady Eboshi, and the gods and spirits of the ancient forest led by San, the wild girl known as “Princess Mononoke.”

Director Hayao Miyazaki deftly weaves the historical tensions of Japan’s medieval transformation into a sweeping ecological allegory—where myth collides with machinery, and humanity’s drive for progress meets nature’s unyielding will. Challenging simple binaries of hero and villain, the film portrays all sides with moral complexity and emotional truth.

With Studio Ghibli’s exquisite hand-drawn animation enhanced by pioneering early digital techniques, and a majestic score by Joe Hisaishi, Princess Mononoke became a landmark in 1997, shattering box office records in Japan and redefining animated cinema worldwide. Now presented in a new 4K restored version, Miyazaki’s epic masterpiece reveals fresh visual depth and detail—offering audiences the most immersive experience yet of its lush forests, haunting gods, and breathtaking battles.

Theaters showing this film