Without hesitation: Monster is a little Japanese gem from an established festival-level author, who for once abandons the linearity and simplicity of the plot to delve into the intricacies of appearances.

For the first time in years Koreeda shoots a screenplay that is not his and tries his hand at a decidedly more complex and non-linear narrative structure. Because Monster plays on misunderstandings, on the mistakes that can be made by looking superficially. It consequently becomes a reflection on the camera and how a director can manipulate the perception of a story. And he does it by combining the excellent screenplay with his direction, which always pays attention to detail.

Monster begins as a thriller, the story of an inexplicable but undeniable persecution by all accounts, and gradually transforms into a coming-of-age novel of a complex awareness. The absurd and the inexplicable take shape scene after scene and it is an increasingly poetic form.

The writer generally hates films that have children as protagonists due to the often blackmailing use that is made of them in the screenplay phase. In Monster there is no scene that could be instrumental. Sincerity is the accuracy with which feelings are treated and, as always in Koreeda's cinema, exemplary, touching but never crybaby.

An intelligent work with different reading levels and different themes that knows how to entertain both the soul and the brain, which is very rare. In competition at Cannes where it won the award for best screenplay, it is a film worth seeing to be overwhelmed.