Osamu is the head of an impoverished family of thieves and fraudsters. Three generations are cramped into a dilapidated house stuck between anonymous apartment blocks. His wife, Naboyo, works in a laundry and steals whatever she can from clothes' pockets. Young son Shota accompanies dad on shoplifting expeditions. Teenage daughter Aki works behind a mirror in a sleazy peep-show joint. Grandma is addicted to pachinko gambling machines.
Then there's Yuri. She's a neglected and frightened 4-year-old girl rescued from the street and informally adopted by the family. Everyone's happy, especially Yuri, but she's still a missing person and someone else's daughter. When authorities eventually come calling Yuri's given a disguise and a new name, but this is far from the end of the matter. Kore-eda's masterful film highlights sharp social and economic divisions in contemporary Japan while asking the question of what makes a family.
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Click here to read our four-star theatrical review of ‘Shoplifters’.