Monster (M18)

126 minutes, opens on Thursday
4 stars

The story: In a small regional city in Japan, single mother Saori (Sakura Ando) lives with her son Minato (Soya Kurokawa). When he begins behaving strangely, she comes to suspect abuse by a teacher, Hori (Eita Nagayama). The identity of the real monster – if there is one – is revealed through overlapping points of view, belonging to Saori, Hori and Minato. This film was screened in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won Best Screenplay for Yuji Sakamoto. For the score, director Hirokazu Kore-eda worked for the first time with celebrated composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, who died in March.

The title of this drama plays with the idea of the villainous creature at the heart of every mystery.

This mystery, in turn, hinges on the idea of conflicting realities, such as the ones that children experience but keep from their parents, and the ones that grown-ups like Saori and Hori live through but deceive themselves about, for reasons of their own.

Within these separate realities is the truth, at least as it relates to Minato, a withdrawn child who appears to be alienated from the others at school, but who does not seem to suffer as badly as Yori (Hinata Hiiragi), a goofy kid who comes to class each day wearing a metaphorical “kick me” sign on his back.

By now, it should be clear that structurally, this movie is unlike anything else made by acclaimed Japanese film-maker Kore-eda (Shoplifters, 2018; Like Father, Like Son, 2013).

Its mystery-driven nature, along with its use of differing points of view, can be attributed to Yuji Sakamoto, a screenwriting veteran whom Kore-eda views with reverence.

Yuji Sakamoto might have come up with the clever puzzle-piece framework, but the story’s keen sense of compassion for the stigmatised must have come from both of them.

Kore-eda, as he does in each of his films, makes everything feel grounded. It not only lies in the tactile way he uses locations, sound and music, but also in the way he works with actors to draw out naturalistic performances.

But more so than in his previous films, there is a propulsive drive to the storytelling that pushes viewers towards a gut-wrencher of a finale.

Hot take: Monster lacks the warmth and dilemma-driven nature of earlier Kore-eda classics, but more than makes up for it through its gripping mystery.