Hirokazu Kore-Eda has been wowing CIFF audiences for years (BROKER, CIFF2022; SHOPLIFTERS, CIFF2018; OUR LITTLE SISTER, CIFF2015). He returns with his latest, the Cannes award-winning mysterious family drama, MONSTER.

Quiet and reserved Minato loses his father as a young child and lives with his widowed mother, Saori. When he starts behaving strangely, Saori calls a meeting with the school, suspecting that his teacher is the source of the boy’s issues. As she attempts to get closer to the root of the problem, the truth becomes more and more elusive. Utilizing a RASHOMON-inspired approach, reality constantly shifts as we see the story through different eyes. Featuring the final original score by the legendary Ryuchi Sakamoto (MERRY CHRISTMAS MR. LAWRENCE, HARA-KIRI: DEATH OF A SAMURAI), composed and recorded before his untimely death this past March, MONSTER is another jewel in the crown of one of Japan’s greatest filmmakers.

Content Warning: themes of bullying.