Review: After The Storm (15)

Japanese director Koreeda Horikazu follows up last year's Our Little Sister with another carefully observed, quietly compelling drama about the fractious nature of families when life hasn't quite panned out as hoped.

Though the titular storm is a long time coming, Koreeda mines its metaphorical import for all it’s worth, stranding Ryoto with his family in order to make him face up to a few home truths. But the way the film surprises in small, detailed ways, rejecting an easy Hollywood-style redemption for something more ambiguous and believably human, is what makes it linger.

In selected cinemas

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