Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Monster Gets A UK Trailer

Last month Picturehouse Entertainment announced they are set to release Hirokazu Kore-eda‘s award winning Monster. Today they release the official UK Trailer that teases a lesson in mystery and perspective.

The film stars Kore-eda regular Sakura Ando whom we recently seen in Godzilla Minus One. Souya Kurokawa and Yota Hiiragi also star as young boys at the centre of the film.

The first question you may ask, ‘why is the film called Monster?’ We are teased this a little in the trailer. Ando plays Saori a single mother who knows something is wrong with a son who is acting strangely. When she learns, this his school teacher is responsible Saori confronts the school.

Is the teacher truly the monster of this film? We get to see what’s going on from three perspectives: The boy, the mother and the teacher. Hirokazu Kore-eda is a wonderful storyteller, this look delightfully contextual. This structure of the story reminds me a little of Tetsuya Nakashima‘s Confessions (告白, Kokuhaku), a psychological drama delivered from 3 perspectives.

This is the director’s 17th film, debuted at 2023 Cannes Film Festival. winning various award including the Queer Palm and has a score from the renowned composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. Who sadly died a couple of months before this film was released in Japan.

When her young son Minato starts to behave strangely, single mother Saori knows that there is something wrong. Discovering that one of his teachers might be responsible, she storms into the school demanding answers. But as the story unfolds through the eyes of mother, teacher and child, shocking truths begin to emerge.

Monster also stars Nagayama Eita, Kurokawa Soya, Hiiragi Hinata, and Tanaka Yuko. The film will be in UK and Irish cinemas from 15th March.