Popular reviews

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  Review by Alex ★★★★½ 13

  Sometimes you don't need violence, or sex, or any forced plot point at all, to produce conflict and drama in a story. Hirokazu Koreeda is proof that the everyday going-ons in the lives of regular people are more than enough fuel to create an enjoyable and eminently watchable film with more than enough happening to keep the viewer interested.

  That being said, his work isn't for everyone. The pacing here is languid, even for him, and there is even less drama here than in his previous films. But he is able to create characters so rich, diverse and real, that simply watching them talk to each other or walk along the beach or go shopping, is enough. The four sisters…

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  Review by Cinematic Underdogs ★★★★★ 2

  This film feels like live-action Studio Ghibli—stripped of the more fantastical elements, but just as animated with heart.

  Exquisitely small, refreshingly wistful, earnestly affectionate, and ever so wholesome.

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  Review by davidehrlich ★★★½

  Kore-eda's gentlest (and prettiest) film is a long & lovely tale of family, transience, and whitefish spread on toast.

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  Review by Hungkat ★★★★ 7

  Take a dip in Kore-eda’s touch of tenderness, covered in pale pink petals and breathe in the sisterly love. I’m not crying because I’m sad, it’s because of the puff of air that blew into my eyes. The breezes of gentleness, smooth like butter and sweet like honey, carry me home and let me curl up into a soft ball. They remind me how generous life can be, even when the road gets rough. Every meal shared is a joy, every glance is a touch; how every-day contains a bittersweet revelation as tears are evenly meshed with laughter. The intricate fabric texture of the familial world is a pleasure to hold onto. Our Little Sister’s kindness is a glimmer bright in the distance, as the cherry blossom trees are blooming. You just have to close your eyes and enter the tunnel of embrace.

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  Review by matt lynch ★★★★

  These quiet Kore-eda domestic dramas are irresistible to me.

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  Review by neuroprismatic cinephile🏳️‍🌈 ★★★★½ 5

  Our Little Sister. 2015. Directed by Hirokazu Koreeda.

  Hirokazu Koreeda’s Our Little Sister (2015) is another genius installment of Japaneses cinema that we have had the honor and privilege to view. Koreeda’s style is fluid and poetic; he is an autuer as his films exhibit a style that runs through all of them. Our Little Sister has scenes of young adults gliding under cherry blossoms, sisters walking on the beach as waves gently caress the shore, and the tradition of making and consuming plum wine.

  Koreeda films are so light at times and then someone dies. His method of displaying life (cycles), death, and sharing the beauty of togetherness. His ability to show the love that results from family is…

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  Review by ˗ˏˋ Liam ˊˎ˗ ★★★★★

  this is very telling of what i like about cinema

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  Review by MK ★★★★ 1

  This is an embodiment of what a Hirokazu Koreeda san movie feels like, 10 min into the movie and you are already in love with the characters and hope nothing bad happens to them throughout the movie. Its one of those moments wre you wish to have a company like them and just be there with them forever... Highly recommended!

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  Review by iana ★★★½ 5

  ohhhh how wonderful

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  Review by Arsaib Gilbert ★★★★ 2

  [Favorites—2010s]

  As clichéd as it may sound, for a film that deals with the lives of four women living under the same roof—three sisters and a half-sister who range from mid-teens to late 20s—Kore’eda Hirokazu’s new Our Little Sister (Umimachi Diary) is surprisingly devoid of the kind of sibling conflicts and rivalries we have come to expect from such setups. Sure, from time to time there's a spat over clothes and such between the sober eldest sister (Ayase Haruka), who happens to be the de facto matriarch of the household, and the more free-spirited middle one (Nagasawa Masami), but nothing that threatens to unbalance the domestic harmony.

  With his delicate gaze and gentle touch, Kore'eda seems content focusing on life's…

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  Review by Darren Carver-Balsiger ★★★★ 3

  Our Little Sister has a striking naturalism and quiet. It is a film of gentle humour and very likeable women. The film centres on women looking out for each other in a world of strained family relationships. Through the central women's dating lives and attempts to raise their little sister, they try not to repeat the mistakes of the family who have wronged them. Director Hirokazu Kore-eda shows himself as a modern day Ozu, making this a film of pillow shots and key moments kept offscreen. Similar to Ozu, it shows that life is complicated even when presented simply. Our Little Sister is a sweet and delightful film, a bundle of joy. It may tackle some serious themes, but this is arthouse cinema at its lightest and most lovable.

  2016 Ranked

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  Review by Cormac 👑 ★★★★½ 6

  Do you ever go into a movie from a filmmaker you love actively bracing for crushing disappointment? Doubts nagging at you, feeding at you, enjoying a full course meal in the back of your brain-box. Where you just know, realistically, it has to happen at some point. I mean, it’s got to, right?! But then the film starts. And the first frame plays, and the first scene passes, and the first five minutes are over, and you know you never should have been so senseless. No? Just me? Well, that’s been my experience with the work of Hirokazu Kore-eda. There’s no-one who can make me feel such shame for fearing routineness or complacency quite like Hirokazu Koreeda. I guess I’ll…