Hirokazu Kore-eda directs Sakura Andō, Eita Nagayama and Sōya Kurokawa in this mystery drama where a Japanese mother begins to notice signs of bullying at her son’s school yet the formal culture of the hierarchy means we are never sure as to who is the monster and who is the victim.

The first act of this is genuinely compelling. Like an Anatomy Of A Fall, mundane, grind of the system, whodunnit vice. Sakura Andō is true and sympathetic as the mother who knows something is rotten in Denmark but cannot navigate the clear conspiracy of deference to get to the bottom of who is the villain here. The second act, Rashomon-style, takes us back and explores a differing perspective of events. The teacher who seemed so feckless and off-key is now humanised and dedicated. Hardly seems the same man? Then the children get their turn in the spotlight. And they don’t seem to care about the fallout to the adults as they explore their own relationship. In the closing shots it feels like no adults exist anymore. There are potent motifs. We begin and end in disaster. Shoes that don’t fit, scars we never see the source of. Starts so strong, what follows is still good but you feel a little cheated when the shifts in perspective offer less and less.

7

Perfect Double Bill: After The Storm (2016)

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