Monster (2023 film)

When her young son Minato starts to behave strangely, his mother feels that there is something wrong. Discovering that a teacher is responsible, she storms into the school demanding to know what's going on. But as the story unfolds through the eyes of mother, teacher and child, the truth gradually emerges.[1]

• Sakura Andō as Saori, a single mother
• Eita Nagayama as Hori, Minato and Eri's homeroom teacher
• Soya Kurokawa as Minato, Saori's son
• Hinata Hiiragi as Eri, Minato's classmate
• Mitsuki Takahata as Hirona, Hori's lover
• Akihiro Tsunoda as Shoda, the vice-principal of the elementary school that Minato and Eri attend
• Shidō Nakamura as Kiyotaka, Eri's father and a single father
• Yūko Tanaka as Fushimi, elementary school principal

Hirokazu Kore-eda (2015)

For Hirokazu Kore-eda, Monster is the first Japanese-language film he has directed since the international success of Shoplifters (2018), which won the Palme d'Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards. In between, he shot two feature films: the English- and French-language The Truth (2019) and the Korean-language Broker (2022). Initial information about the project became known in November 2022 after filming had concluded. At this point, Monster was in post-production. For the first time since his feature film debut Maboroshi (1995), Kore-eda was not responsible for the screenplay. The script was written by the successful Japanese television writer Yuji Sakamoto. Kore-eda described Sakamoto as the one writer he had always wanted to collaborate with but that he gave up thinking it would happen. Kore-eda said that he felt a sense of closeness with Sakamoto for their shared interest in the same motifs. He described feeling "both envy and in awe of his ability to develop a subject in such a tremendously interesting way." Sakamoto described Kore-eda as the "world's best screenwriter" and recalled looking up to him when the two filmmakers attended the same school and occasionally rubbed shoulders.[5]

Sakura Andō, Eita Nagayama and Yūko Tanaka were cast in the lead roles along with the two child actors Soya Kurokawa and Hinata Hiiragi.[6] The director had previously worked with Andō on Shoplifters. The two child actors were selected after repeated auditions. Kore-eda praised them for their shared on-camera chemistry, which contrasted the apparent differences in their facial appearances and personalities.[7]

The prolific filmmaker and best-selling author Genki Kawamura served as the film's lead producer.[8] Kawamura previously worked with Kore-eda in producing his Netflix series The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House (2023). Kenji Yamada served alongside Kawamura as a producer. The production was financially supported by the companies Toho, Gaga Corporation, Fuji Television Network, AOI Pro and Kore-eda's company Bun-Buku.[9]

Ryuichi Sakamoto committed to produce music for the film. However, Sakamoto did not have the physical strength to accept the offer to create an entire score. At the direct request of the director, he submitted two piano pieces. He used songs from his new album 12 and old songs to compose the whole. In a commentary, Sakamoto stated that the film deals with an "esoteric theme" and that it was difficult to discern who the eponymous "monster" was. According to Kore-eda, the collaboration with Sakamoto was a "longtime wish that finally came true". During filming and editing, he listened to Sakamoto's music in his hotel room.[10] Sakamoto died on 28 March 2023 after a long battle with cancer.[11]

A teaser trailer was published in early January 2023.[12] A promo was shown in February 2023 at Berlinale's European Film Market.[9] Monster was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival,[13] where it had its world premiere on 17 May 2023.[14]

In Japan, the film is scheduled to be released on 2 June 2023 and will be co-distributed by Gaga Corporation and Toho.[15] Gaga has the distribution rights for the rest of Asia. Goodfellas will handle international sales excluding Asia.[16]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Monster holds a rare approval rating of 100%, based on 19 critic reviews with an average rating of 7.6/10.[17]

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Monster at IMDb