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Shoplifters 15 rating

Hirokazu Koreeda's modern masterpiece is dark yet touching account of an unorthodox family that relies on shoplifting to make ends meet.

Drama 2018 121 mins

Director: Hirokazu Koreeda

Overview

Japanese auteur Hirokazu Koreeda picked up the Palme d’Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival for this touching exploration of what it means to be a family. Living in poverty in Tokyo, Osamu (Franky) and his son are shoplifting groceries when they discover a homeless girl, Yuri. Despite their own struggle, they take her in.

With humour and humanity, Koreeda presents an unorthodox yet thoroughly modern family unit which works against the odds; perfectly placed to survive amid a harsh world in which everything - including people - has become commodified. The director’s last collaboration with his regular actress Kirin Kiki (who died in September 2018) sums up his most frequent themes: nature versus nurture, crime and urban alienation, and the question of what it means to be part of a family. A winner of numerous accolades alongside it's Palme d'Or, Shoplifters is a modern masterpiece to rank alongside the many greats in Koreeda's oeuvre.