Monster – Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art

Oscar nominee and winner of Palme d’Or, master storyteller Hirokazu Kore-eda returns with a subtle and extremely moving new film. Monster is a perfectly constructed and surprising tale of childhood secrets.

Monster shows three perspectives of the same, seemingly simple story. A fight at school, a morally insecure teacher and a mother fighting for her son. The puzzles are successively put together by Kore-eda with surgical precision, revealing characters’ secrets to the viewer. A story about how friendship, love and rejection so often exist on the same continuum.

The film’s poignancy is amplified by a top-notch soundtrack, the latest work of Oscar-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto.