Monster

Single mother Saori is very worried about her son Minato. He has been gloomy lately and he is also behaving strangely; he has cut off his hair and makes disturbing drawings. Saori suspects that his teacher at school has something to do with it and decides to seek redress. She storms into the school and demands a meeting with the teacher in question and the headmaster, but that meeting turns out very differently than she had thought beforehand.

With critically acclaimed dramas such as Shoplifters and Broker, Japanese director Kore-eda Hirokazu has repeatedly proven to have a keen eye for the complexities of family relationships. In his new film, Monster, he not only zooms in on a dysfunctional mother-son relationship and a close friendship between two children, he also explores the 'monster' in society. The result is a suspenseful, sometimes mysterious story told from three perspectives: of the mother, the teacher and Minato himself. Awarded at Cannes.