Monster

This right here is a perfect film. Kore-eda puts on a masterclass in how to structure and tell a story in such an interesting and unique way. The first half of the film will have you guessing at every turn, only for it to all come together in the final act and form such a heartfelt story about a child's innocence, conflictions, mistakes, and forgiveness. I want to be as vague as possible so I don't spoil anything because I went in pretty blind to this and it's 100% the best way to watch it. In my opinion this is Kore-eda's strongest film, the characters are complicated, and can never be judged by their lowest moments just like many of his other characters. But what makes it stand out so much here is the various perspectives this story follows, jumping back and fourth to reveal more of the story and each character quicky makes you realise you can't assume what these people are thinking and just have to wait for the story to finish it's course before everything can settle in and you can truly reflect on what you've seen. The performances here are incredible too, I really can't pick a favourite because of how fantastic everyone is but the two main child actors are so perfect together that it often feels like they're barely acting at all and just being themselves. Monster feels like a film that demands to be rewatched more than once to fully admire the jigsaw puzzle that Kore-eda creates, and once I've emotionally recovered I will do just that.