In this fictional retelling of a real 1988 event, 12-year-old Akira (2004 Cannes Best Actor Yûya Yagira) has to look after his siblings when his mother absconds, leaving them in a tiny apartment with just a few thousand yen. Shooting chronologically over the course of 12 months, Kore-eda crafts this real-life story into a moving docu-drama about the loss of childhood innocence. With just one principal location - a tiny apartment - and four non-professional child actors sharing the burden of the film's focus, the new film by Kore-eda is quiet, simple yet remarkably precise in its study of what children do when left to their own devices.
