The Promised Neverland (film)

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The Promised Neverland is a 2020 Japanese live-action film that adapts the manga of the same name by Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu. A dark fantasy story, it follows Emma, Norman, Ray and their friends who live at Grace Field House, a seemingly perfect orphanage cared for by a woman they call “Mom.” When they learn the truth—that the children are being raised as food for demons—they hatch a dangerous plan to escape.

Directed by Yūichirō Hirakawa and written by Noriko Goto, the film stars Minami Hamabe as Emma, Kairi Jo as Ray, Rihito Itagaki as Norman, Keiko Kitagawa as Isabella, and Naomi Watanabe as Krone. The production is a collaboration of Fuji Television and Office Crescendo, with Toho handling distribution. The 120-minute movie was released in Japan on December 18, 2020, and grossed about ¥2.03 billion (roughly $17.7 million).

Production notes describe efforts to create a convincing dark fantasy world, including extensive CGI for monsters and the Grace Field House. The design team built partial sets and used computer-generated imagery to complete scenes. The film features a theme song by the Japanese band Zutomayo, “Tadashiku Narenai,” with an original score by Masahiro Tokuda.

The Promised Neverland saw release in Vietnam in January 2021 and in South Korea in April 2022, with its Japan TV broadcast following in April 2022. The movie was released on Blu-ray and DVD in May 2021, and as of early 2022 the film was available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video Japan. A novelization by Nanao, based on the screenplay, arrived on December 18, 2020.

Reception was broadly positive, with critics praising the story, visuals, themes, and soundtrack. The film drew discussion for certain casting choices and some changes from the manga, such as raising the maximum age of children to 16 and the appearance of Peter Ratri. Overall, The Promised Neverland was a commercial success and is considered one of the notable Japanese live-action adaptations of a popular manga.