Popular reviews

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  Review by Karst ★★★★

  “our poop will go back in our butts”
  Best Screenplay Winner at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival

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  Review by davidehrlich ★★★½

  Scary as it sounds, “monster” can be such a strangely comforting word. Not only does classifying someone as inhuman absolve us from acknowledging the most difficult aspects of our shared humanity, it also reaffirms the smallness and simplicity of an infinitely complex universe that continues to expand no matter how much we might want to wrap our arms around it. “Monster” is a period at the end of a sentence; it’s the permission we give ourselves to demonize whatever we don’t understand.

  And, for all of those reasons, it’s also a very unexpected title for a new feature by the great Hirokazu Kore-eda, whose achingly humanistic stories of families lost and found (e.g. “Shoplifters,” “Still Walking,” “After the Storm”) have…

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  Review by AmandaTheJedi ★★★★

  Did what I think happen actually happen

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  Review by Matt Neglia ★★★★ 1

  Get the tissue boxes ready again! Hirokazu Kore-eda superbly crafts another complex tale of how insecurity & suppression can lead to lies & consequences. Told from multiple perspectives, each layer is more emotionally devastating than the last. MONSTER is a heartbreaking film with a perfect cast.

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  Review by deah ★★★★★

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  everything lukas dhont failed to do in Close, and so much more.

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  Review by megan ★★★★ 1

  the brass instrument bit was genius I got chills

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  Review by edil 37

  I thought the best way to spend my birthday would be to watch the new film from my favorite director in the world, in a theater at the iconic IFC Center in NYC.

  Well, I was wrong, it was a mistake. Because, once again, just like he does each time, Hirokazu Kore-eda has completely crushed my heart into pieces. Monster began with the energy and conniving tension of a collapsing universe and as it went on, it turned into a heartbreaking poem, like the final blink of a star. I cried during it a lot, but *that* ending left me in a mess, my face all covered in tears and my friend spent the next hour laughing at me— who…

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  Review by Jackson Stern 1

  “If it’s not for everyone, that’s not happiness.”

  There are few directors as humanly insightful and emotionally intelligent as Hirokazu Kore-eda and as long as he is with us, the world will have a spark of hope.

  Ryuichi Sakamoto’s (final) score destroyed me.

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  Review by pabneruda ★★★★ 2

  they were just jealous because Hoshikawa had such immaculate fits

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  Review by Jay ★★★★ 2

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  like i feel bad for the kids but there is no way mr hori deserved all that

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  Review by Ella Kemp ★★★★

  Give it time and it is sooo rewarding, if gently!

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  Review by wilson ★★★★★

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  I’m pretty floored. Kore-eda applies his light touch to a story penned by Yūji Sakamoto. The script itself is a puzzle box, jumping between 3 different perspectives during a timeframe when a young boy accuses his teacher of physically assaulting him. With every perspective shift comes a substantial re-evaluation of what is believed prior. It's Farhadi-esque, but audience intrigue doesn't come from the continuous blurring of facts. The movie chooses to let you in, for these characters to become understood. It shows that there are layers to put up to exist within this society.

  Sakura Ando is so great, and you can sort of feel Kore-eda in his groove working with her again. She helms the first section so well,…