Monster (2023)

Japan

Drama

TOHO, Fuji Television Network, AOI Pro., BUN-BUKU, GAGA Corporation

Sakura Ando, Eita Nagayama, Soya Kurokawa, Hinata Hiiragi, Yûko Tanaka, Mitsuki Takahata

Hirokazu Kore-eda

Yuji Sakamoto

Taglines: Are they the ones we dream of, or the ones we fail to see among us?

bullying, coming of age, school, teacher student relationship, lgbt, multiple perspectives, mother son relationship, gay theme, kids, boys' love (bl), lgbt child

When her young son Minato starts to behave strangely, his mother feels that there is something wrong. Discovering that a teacher is responsible, she storms into the school demanding to know what's going on. But as the story unfolds through the eyes of mother, teacher, and child, the truth gradually emerges.

Reviews:

Author: lachlanthiele
INT. COOKIE MONSTER – NIGHT Monster is the latest entry in the Kore-eda filmography (a filmography I still need to dive deeper into). Still, just like his previous films, It's a deeply personal look into a character, their motives but most importantly, how that motive affects those around them. Monster is a multi-layered beast; it retells one story from multiple perspectives giving us the whole cookie instead of just the crumbs. Usually, I'm a crumb kinda guy; I like to figure things out myself, putting them all together to get my cookie. Still, Kore-eda gives me the cookie; at points, he just hands the cookie over when instead I would have preferred the traditional 'show, don't tell' filmmaker mentality. Yet, without that one little critique Monster would have shot right up to a 4-star thanks to its standout performances from Sakura Ando as the mother and excellent direction (especially when it comes to blocking actors within a scene, yeah, I know a weird thing to point out but something I wrote down while watching) Anyway, please head out and see this one. It's worth the spoon-feeding. FADE OUT.