Film: Monster (Japanese with English Subtitles)
Cast: Sakura Ando, Eita Nagayama, Soya Kurokawa
Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu
Rating: 3.5/5
Runtime: 127 mins

Hirokazu Kore-eda’s film envisages different perspectives of behavior patterns exhibited by a so-called ‘problem’ child. It’s a superbly constructed narrative that explores the complexity in the use of words describing actions and how they have an imploding impact on the people they are targeted at.

The filmmaker underlines the need for understanding context when deliberating on a problem. In his film, a single unwed mother is forced to demand answers from the school when her son begins acting strangely. Her son, is a boy of few words and when questioned about his behavior, his words or specifically that of his friend, points blame square on the teacher.