Shoplifters is a story about family, about a family but about what family is. We learn that the family we are watching aren't connected in the way that we tend to think of as family and that the ways they are connected are fairly difficult for us to swallow. This is one of the ways the film tricks us. They are presented in such a way that we clearly latch on to them quickly and are then forced to reckon with the more problematic aspects of their story. But we're already invested so we have to deal with it. We can't just reject them outright.
And that is what makes Shoplifters so powerful. The way it upends our notions of good and bad and family and love and what is best. It gets underneath our skin and makes us confront some truly uncomfortable things until we get to an ending which completely shakes us, completely breaks our hearts. Yet it is the ending in which "justice" is done. In the end what we think of as "right" prevails.
And we hate it.
Shoplifters is remarkable for making us see a completely different perspective and makes us question what we believe to be right. And the whole time it is also a lovely story. As I said it starts out rather benign, telling what feels to be a fairly mundane story, but the characters and performances suck us in until we love following this story and until we are forced to come to terms with some very difficult truths.
Shoplifters
Starring: Sakura Ando, Lily Franky, Mayu Matsuoka, Kirin Kiki, Kairi Jo, Miyu Sisaki
Writer/Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
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