When her young son Minato starts to behave strangely, his mother feels that there is something wrong. Upon discovering that a teacher is responsible, she storms into the school demanding to know what’s going on. But as the story unfolds through the eyes of mother, teacher and child, the truth gradually emerges.

Monster had its world premiere at the 76th Cannes Film Festival 2023, where it competed for the Palme d'Or and was honored with the Queer Palm as well as the Best Screenplay award.

The film was the last musical project of Ryuichi Sakamoto (no relation to Yuji Sakamoto), who died two months before its release; the film is dedicated to his memory.

„The story portrays an incident involving children at a small school in a regional city in Japan, where small sparks of fire create a huge rift and divide among the people who live there.“

Hirokazu Kore-eda