I have watched and reviewed thousands of Coming-of-Age films. I know their rhythm, the way they usually breathe, and how quickly they pull us into the messy, vibrant hearts of their young protagonists.
Hirokazu Kore–eda’s Monster does none of that.
Stepping into another of his youth narratives—my first since the brilliant Nobody Knows (2004)—I expected an immediate, intimate connection. Instead, for the first hour, the film actively locks us out. We are trapped in the sterile, suffocating hallways of a middle school, watching a mother and school officials talk completely past one another.
The adults are trapped in their societal roles, obsessed with saving face, while the boys at the center remain entirely out of focus. It is a punishingly slow, cold start. Honestly? Most people will be tempted to turn it off.
But if you survive that institutional gauntlet, the film rewards you with one of the most devastating perspective shifts in modern cinema. The timeline loops back, the claustrophobia shatters, and we finally slip away with young Minato (Soya Kurokawa) and Yori (Hinata Hiiragi) into an abandoned train car hidden deep in a sun-drenched forest.
Monster – Trailer
Here, away from the judging eyes of society, the film finds its true heartbeat. Two kids simply try to name feelings they don’t yet have the vocabulary for. Watching them build their fragile sanctuary pulled me straight back to my own youth—the intense, secret worlds you create with a best friend that leave such a heavy absence when summer ends. By forcing us to suffer through the adults’ absolute blindness first, Kore-eda makes a bittersweet confession: we can never fully step back into the shoes of a child. We can only reach backward through the hazy, often distorted lens of memory.
This structural brilliance comes at a cost. Because we are held at arm’s length for so long, the film prevents us from forging the immediate, desperate bond that is the soul of the Coming-of-Age genre. By the time we finally enter Minato and Yori’s world, the emotional tether has already been stretched too thin.
So, can I recommend it? Not wholeheartedly. If you’re a cinephile hungry for a masterful puzzle about perspective and societal blindness, Monster is an undeniable achievement. But if you come here looking for a film that will instantly grip your heart and immerse you in the emotional warmth of youth, you will likely find yourself left out in the cold.
