Der gefeierte japanische Filmemacher Hirokazu Koreeda kehrt mit einer zarten, kraftvoll bewegenden Geschichte über Liebe, Pflicht, soziale Konflikte und Geheimnisse in sein Heimatland zurück.

"MONSTER is another striking piece of work from a master, a movie that's so carefully calibrated that you get lost in these characters, forgetting they're performers and not people caught up in a genuinely traumatic chapter of life." Brian Tallerico, rogerebert.com

"Eine alleinerziehende Mutter verspürt eine Veränderung im Verhalten ihres Sohnes Minato und fragt sich, was sein verstörendes Benehmen verursachen mag? Bald macht sie Vorfälle an seiner Schule als Ursache aus und stürmt zur Direktorin, um Gerechtigkeit zu fordern. Die changierende Perspektive aufs Geschehen – aus der Sicht der Mutter, des Sohnes und der Lehrer – bringt nach und nach die Wahrheit ans Licht. Koreeda behält das Geheimnis von MONSTER bis zuletzt für sich und drückt damit auch die Wertschätzung seines Publikums aus: indem er ihm vermittelt, es verdient zu haben, das tiefste Mysterium in der Seele dieses wunderbaren Films selbst zu lüften." Matthias Greuling, Viennale 2024

"By cutting things up and showing us the perils of fractured perspectives, the director, one of cinema's great humanists, demonstrates that compassion is more than just a natural state of being... I'm not sure I've seen a better film about the indisputable (and increasingly relevant) fact that we never really know what someone else is going through." Bilge Ebiri, Vulture

"After a detour in France ("The Truth") and South Korea ("Broker"), Kore-eda Hirokazu returns to his homeland to reconnect with the roots that nourished the deepest spirit of his cinema. His art thrives on subtle, delicate emotions, disregards the obvious, and explores the ordinariness and variables of the human experience.
Quiet and reserved Minato – no longer a kid, but not yet an adolescent – lost his father when he was a young child and lives with his mother. When he starts behaving strangely, obsessed with the idea his brain has been switched with a pig's, the mother suspects his teacher Hori and calls a meeting with the school principal only to face a wall of silence and stiff apologies. Someone must have put that idea in Minato's head, but something doesn’t add up. Is Minato telling the truth, or is his professor innocent? Looking at the story from various points of view, in a Rashomon-inspired structure, reality changes and the actual subject becomes the hidden friendship between Minato and one of his schoolmates, often bullied by other kids.
A great storyteller of family dynamics, Kore-eda shows once again his unique ability to depict the inner world of children, unveiling uncomfortable realities with a natural and necessary tenderness.
A milestone in his impressive body of work, MONSTER is marked by two major collaborations: one with co-screenwriter Sakamoto Yûji; and the other with the legendary musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, who died last March, MONSTER being his last soundtrack." Giovanna Fulvi, Toronto International Film Festival 2023