Hirokazu Kore-eda, master of the domestic drama makes the definitive film about what it means to be a family in Shoplifters, winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. A ragtag intergenerational group living together in a seedy Tokyo apartment support themselves by petty theft and playful grifting.
After one of their shoplifting sessions Osamu (Lily Franky) and his son come across a little girl alone in the freezing cold, and decide to take her home with them. At first reluctant to shelter the girl, Osamu’s wife (Ando Sakura) relents after learning of the hardships she faces. Although the family is poor, barely making enough money to survive through petty crime, they seem to live happily together. But when the young son is arrested, secrets are exposed that upend their tenuous, below-the-radar existence and test their quietly radical belief that it is love—not blood—that defines a family.
An unforgettable film that sneaks up on you and steals your heart, SHOPLIFTERS is Japan’s Official Selection for Best Foreign Language Film consideration at the 91st Academy Awards.