Not to get confused with the countless films titled Monster, this 2023 Japanese drama follows a mother who confronts a teacher after noticing disturbing changes in her son’s behavior, embarking the mother, teacher, and son to see that there is much more to the story. I knew very little going into this. All I knew was that there was a lot of praise for the film. I had no idea that this was going to be coming out in my theater anytime soon. Between the praise and seeing that this film had the best showtime for me to go to over other films, I am extremely satisfied with getting the chance to see this in theaters.

The film is directed by critically acclaimed filmmaker, Hirokazu Kore-eda. I have seen his earlier work in Shoplifters and Broker, so you’ve seen those films, you know that you’re getting a solid piece of quality here. I’d hate to give too much away as this is the best way to go into this. Just know that the hype is very real for a good reason. As Saori Mugino, played by Sakura Ando, notices strange behavior in her son, Minato Mugino, played by Sōya Kurokawa, she finds that his school teacher, Michitoshi Hori, played by Eita Nagayama, might be the culprit behind the behavior. What unfolds is a structure of three acts – each act telling the perspective of the mother, the teacher, and finally, the student – that allows viewers to fully understand the situation.

What the first act accomplishes is done so well through tension. You can feel the pain that this single mother is going through. She is made to believe that her son’s teacher is the reason behind her son’s behavior. As the first act unfolds, you’re made to believe that there is a lot of anger against this teacher, that’s why when the second act focuses on the teacher’s perspective, I was actually quite frustrated, which may just be a testament of how good the direction is in the first act to make the audience also angry with someone that you don’t know the whole story behind.

The second act gracefully tackles the subject of cancel culture. The film never says those accused are always innocent, but rather take an open approach to understand the full story. When the third act hits, that’s when the full picture comes into play. Other films have done that where it is told from different perspectives. What makes this stand out amongst the rest is how the film relies on the viewer to pay closely attention. Just as scenes are about to be repeated, the film cuts to the next scene. I liked the confidence here that the film depends on the audience to fully pay attention and never treat them as anything less than that. I saw one review saying that the third act falls apart, hindering the overall quality of the film. While I wouldn’t say the same thing, I would say that the pacing is severely slowed down to help the audience sympathize with these characters better.

One last thing I want to discuss, because I am trying my best to avoid spoilers for the sake of viewers to have the same experience I did, I knew that the film won the Queer Palm award at the Palme d’Or. Between this and my understanding of the plot, I was quite surprised by how misleading my assumptions were. The direction of the plot requires the children talent to be quite good in their own performances. For what feels so rare, the young talent is insanely good for what they have to do here. The title of the film comes into play and begs the question: “Who really is the monster?” That’s all I have to say about it.

Overall, Monster is a masterclass in filmmaking. It evokes the right kind of emotion as it juggles its three narratives, showing how important it is is to understand the full story before making your own judgement. Films like this only comes so often, which is why I highly encourage people to go see this. If it’s not at a theater near you, check this out as soon as you can when it becomes available to rent or buy.

VERDICT: Perfect