Monster: Film Review
Hirokazu Kore-eda has a strong track record with me – I enjoyed Broker and The Truth and loved Shoplifters – so I felt confident about Monster and he did not disappoint. His winning streak continues!
The film revolves around a young boy named Minato (Soya Kurokawa), who concerns his mum Saori (Sakura Ando) with his strange behaviour. He tells her that he has been hurt and insulted by his teacher Mr. Hori (Eita Nagayama) so Saori confronts the school and demands answers. The story then shifts perspective and shows what happened from Mr. Hori’s point of view before switching for a third time to reveal the real story through Minato’s eyes.
Monster won the Best Screenplay award at the Cannes Film Festival last year and it’s easy to see why. It is so clever how the storylines intersect and the puzzle pieces come together. There is some overlap in the events, of course, but it’s not simply retelling the same scenes from a different perspective. It reveals more history and context for each person and shows what we didn’t see in the chapter before.
It’s not at all the story I expected. I thought it was going to be a case of figuring out who was telling the truth and discovering who the titular monster was. But that wasn’t it at all. The final chapter uncovers a whole other layer that levels up the story and makes it so much more compelling and poignant. The film really hits its stride with Minato and his friend Yori (Hinata Hiiragi)’s coming-of-age tale, which is easily the best chapter.
The performances from Kurokawa and Hiiragi are astonishing. They are so young yet display so much emotional depth. I was blown away by them. Minato is battling a range of emotions and is distressed by his feelings and Kurokawa makes it look effortless.
Monster is a beautiful film that I loved more and more as it went along. I absolutely adored it by the end.
In UK and Irish cinemas on Friday 15th March. Click here for more information