Underplayed Gems

Monster (2023)

Monster poster
Original title
怪物
Directed by
Hirokazu Koreeda
Cast
Liu Zhi Yang, Wen Mo Yan, Li Kai Wen, Zhang Ya Meng, Zhang Yong Xu
Genre
drama film, thriller film, coming-of-age film, LGBTQ-related film
Country
Japan
Runtime
2h 07m
Rated
PG-13
Rating
7.9 of 10 from 911 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

More films like thisWatch the trailer

or watch the trailer on YouTube

How it feels

A mother notices strange changes in her young son's behavior and confronts his teacher. The story unfolds from multiple perspectives, gradually revealing hidden truths about the boy's life at school and at home.

mysteriousemotionally chargedslow-burnunsettlingtenderthought-provokinglayered

What happens

Monster (Japanese: 怪物, Hepburn: Kaibutsu; lit. Monster) is a 2023 Japanese coming-of-age psychological drama mystery thriller film directed, co-produced, and edited by Hirokazu Kore-eda from a screenplay written by Yuji Sakamoto. It stars Sakura Andō as a mother who confronts a teacher after noticing disturbing changes in her son's behavior. The film marks the first time Kore-eda has directed a film he did not write himself since Maborosi (1995). This was the last scoring project by Ryuichi Sakamoto, who died two months before its release; the film is dedicated to his memory. Monster had its world premiere at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on 17 May 2023, where it competed for the Palme d'Or and was honored with the Queer Palm and the Best Screenplay award. The film was released in Japan on 2 June 2023. It received widespread critical acclaim with special praise for its screenplay, direction, acting, editing and musical score and appeared in many lists of top ten "best of the year". (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.