“Monster” is a misleading title for a gentle drama that will leave you sobbing, even as you admire its beauty and intricacy. Director Hirokazu Koreeda succeeds once again in crafting an ambling masterpiece of quiet storytelling, using multiple perspectives and encapsulating cinematography to confront themes of monstrosity and how far we will go to protect ourselves and our loved ones from it. Within the film’s heartbreaking narrative and gentle setting is a complex story of boyhood that gradually opens to the viewer — but only if you can sit through its slow pacing and winding narrative. The plot is secondary to the intertwining characters in the film, each casting a unique understanding toward every line of dialogue spoken, action taken and place visited. More individual world-building than cohesive storytelling characterizes this project, making it a more personal portrayal than any formulaic sequence of events on-screen could be.\

*This film screened at the 59th Chicago International Film Festival