Monster is a perfectly told story. It is never predictable, it leads you to rethink events and behaviour that you have taken at face value, but then seen from another angle, appear to have more or other possible interpretations.

Minato is a pre-teen boy who lives with his widowed mom, Saori. When his mom starts to notice alarming changes in her son and receives from him some signals that his teacher is involved, she seeks help from the school leadership. The insincere apologies given only increase her suspicion of the homeroom teacher, Mr. Mori. Initially it leads us to be upset with this recognizable example of pupils suffering from school politics and insincerity.

But then the story gets told from two more, different perspectives. After Saori’s perspective it turns to the same events as seen, understood and lived through by the teacher, Mr. Hori and then through the eyes and feelings of Minato. That explains some things but not everything. This is not a ”who has done it” mystery. Some things get explained, other things get more complicated and ambiguous.

It makes us aware of how little we know when we make our conclusions based on personal observations made and things heard. Everyone involved in a relational context carries a bag pack of earlier experiences and sometimes wounds, that make them react in ways others probably don’t fully understand. We tend to react to fear or evasion without having a clue where such kind of behaviour comes from. In doing so, we tend to add to the original problem. This film gives us true insight into how multi-faceted and complicated contemporary life and relationships are. And gives us reason to discuss how we best may respond to those complexities.

Rinus Baljeu, January 2024  

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