The Promised Neverland (2025 film)

The Promised Neverland is a 2025 American-Australian horror film produced, written and directed Leigh Whannell and based on the anime and manga of the same name by Kaiu Shirai. The film follows a group of orphaned children in their plan to escape from their orphanage, after learning the dark truth behind their existence and the purpose of the orphanage. The film was praised for Whannell's screenplay and direction, faithfulness to the source material, visuals, cinematography, musical score and performances. It became the fourth and most recent film (the other three being 1934's It Happened One Night, 1975's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and 1991's The Silence of the Lambs) to win Academy Awards in all the major five categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay and winning Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects and nominated for Best Original Score.

Plot
The bright and cheerful Emma is an 11-year-old orphan living in Grace Field House, a self-contained orphanage housing her and 37 other orphans. They lead an idyllic life, with plentiful food, plush beds, clean clothes, games and the love of their "Mom", Isabella. Their education is seen as an important part of their development, and Emma with her two best friends Norman and Ray, always excel in the regular exams. The orphans are allowed complete freedom, except to venture beyond the perimeter wall or gate which separate the house from the outside world.

One night, a girl named Conny is sent away to be "adopted", but Emma and Norman follow with her favorite stuffed animal toy. At the gate, they find Conny dead and discover the truth about their existence in this idyllic orphanage – to be raised as meat for demons. Emma and Norman plan with Ray to escape from Grace Field House with the children, but Norman is taken off to be "adopted". Emma and Ray then decide to escape with some of their older siblings, leaving half of the younger children behind.

Cast
Rose Byrne as Isabella:

Known to the orphanage's children as their "Mom", Isabella is a 31-year-old woman who takes care of everyone there. She has fair-skin, purple eyes, and long dark brown hair tied into a low bun. Isabella was born and raised at Grace Field House where she lived a happy life until her crush, Leslie, was shipped out, which brought her intense grief. Shortly after Leslie's departure, Isabella discovered the truth about the orphanage when she tried to run away. Her 'mom', Sarah, convinced her that escaping was impossible and that the best life she could strive for was becoming a 'mom' to other children at the orphanage. When Isabella was shipped out at the age of 12, she began her training to become a 'mom' at Grace Field Headquarters and was eventually put in charge of Plant 3. While appearing extremely loving and affectionate to the children, she is actually very manipulative, cunning, and shows much detachment to their tragic fate.

Quvenzhané Wallis as Lana Krone

Release
The film was released on February 7, 2025.

Music
The film's score was composed by Whannell's frequent collaborator Ramin Djawadi. For his work, Djawadi earned his first Oscar nomination for Best Original Score.

Transcript
The Promised Neverland/Transcript

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Critical reception
The film has an approval rating of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes.