As the Palme d’Or-winning director returns this week with his first film outside of Japan, ‘The Truth’ uniting screen legends Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche, rediscover his elegant but quietly devastating ‘Like Father, Like Son’.
Ryota has worked hard to earn everything he has and believes nothing can stop him from pursuing his ambitions. Then one day, he and his wife, Midori, get an unexpected phone call from the hospital. Their 6-year-old son, Keita, is not “their” son – the hospital gave them the wrong baby.
Ryota is forced to make a life-changing decision; to choose between “nature” and “nurture”. Seeing Midori’s devotion to Keita even after learning his origin, and communicating with the rough yet caring family that has raised his natural son for the last six years, Ryota also starts to question himself: has he really been a “father” all these years…
★★★★★ “Kore-eda has crafted a piercing, tender poem about the bittersweet ebb and flow of paternal love, and his status as Ozu’s heir becomes ever more assured” - Robbie Collin, The Telegraph
