Monster (12A)

★★★★ Japanese writer-director Hirokazu Kore-eda's follow-up to Broker is a minutely observed, profoundly compassionate chronicle of untidy contemporary lives. ~ BBC.

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Mysterious and deeply moving, MONSTER is a breathtaking piece of cinema from master director Hirokazu Kore-eda (Broker, Shoplifters).

When her young son Minato starts to behave strangely, single mother Saori knows that there is something wrong.

Discovering that one of his teachers might be responsible, she storms into the school demanding answers.

But as the story unfolds through the eyes of mother, teacher and child, shocking truths begin to emerge.

A timely tale of family, false impressions, and, ultimately, hope, Kore-eda’s typically sensitive work features powerful performances by Ando Sakura, Tanaka Yuko and Nagayama Eita, and a sublime score from the Oscar-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Languages:
Japanese

Subtitles:
English

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★★★★★ Hirokazu Kore-eda vividly evokes childhood and school life. ~ Financial Times.

★★★★★ Nominated for the Palme d’Or last year at Cannes, Kore-eda’s beautifully judged drama was unlucky not to be in the mix for the Best International Feature Oscar: it’s a complex psychological drama that plays with your sympathies and prejudices throughout. ~ Irish Independent.

★★★★ ~ The Scotsman.

★★★★ ~ The Guardian.

★★★★ ~ The Times.

★★★★ ~ Time Out.

★★★★ ~ Empire.

★★★★ ~ NME.