Manbiki kazoku

English title: Shoplifters

Genre: crime drama  

With: Lily Franky (Osamu Shibata), Sakura Andô (Nobuyo Shibata), Kirin Kiki (Hatsue Shibata), Mayu Matsuoka (Aki Shibata), Jyo Kairi (Shota Shibata), Miyu Sasaki (Yuri Hojo), Sôsuke Ikematsu (4 ban-san)

Director: Hirokazu Koreeda

Screenplay: Hirokazu Koreeda

Release: 2018

Studio: AOI Promotion, GAGA, Fuji TV Movies et al.

Rating: R

MBiS score: 8.4/10

  

The More the Merrier  

 

QuickView 

Story-line: one winter evening, after shoplifting a grocery store, Osamu and his son Shota hear a noise in a back alley and see a little girl alone inside a cold building. Moved by her helplessness, Osamu decides to bring her home to his family.

Pluses: top-level acting by an endearing cast (in spite of their characters’ faults), professional direction, an intelligent and understated screenplay that develops naturally and musters a full range of situations and emotions, credible production values, attractive cinematography, a versatile musical score and a surprising ending.

Minuses: (1) to help you understand the plot without revealing too much of it, I should mention that the main characters here are Osamu, Nobuyo (his lady), Shota (their teenage ‟son”), Aki (Nobuyo’s ‟sister”) and Hatsue (‟Grandma”), who live together as a loosely structured family of odd jobbers and shoplifters; Yuri, the little girl, will become its sixth member. (2) One piece of advice: this film needs a full 30 minutes to introduce its characters and prepare for takeoff; it may feel mundane at first but your patience will be amply rewarded later on.

Comments: SHOPLIFTERS is a very well-made, complex and intriguing film that becomes increasingly poignant – and astonishing – as you follow the Shibata family through thick and thin. This Oscar and BAFTA nominee and Palme d’or winner caught me off guard with its slowly developing but potent drama. 

MBiS 

© 2025 – All rights reserved