I thoroughly hated every single second of this movie. Which is why, despite rarely writing reviews, I had to write this one.
I hated this movie with a passion. And that's what makes it so good. The direction of this movie perfectly captures the feeling of domestic abuse. This has to be the slowest movie I've watched in my entire life. Painfully slow. Which is exactly the point... and anyone who understands what it's like to be abused as a child knows it all too well. You think that a 2 hour movie is long? Imagine how long and insufferable every day in Shuhei's life was. Imagine being a kid and every single second you're wondering how much more you have left of this. Shuhei spends his whole life waiting for something to happen, for something to change, for a happy ending, knowing it'll never come. The pure frustration I felt with every stagnant moment of this movie is welcome.

The movie also perfectly highlights the possessive and yet contradictory nature of neglective parents. Shuhei's mother spends her entire motherhood either exploiting Shuhei or ignoring his existence completely. And yet, whenever her parenting is criticised or custody of her children is threatened, she repeatedly says that "They're my children.". Even after she forces Shuhei into prison and her daughter gets taken, she continues to echo this line. Perfectly sums up how abusers don't actually love their kids or value their lives but rather value the control that they have over them. For an abusive adult with insecurities, asserting dominance over and exploiting their children for personal gain is the only thing that makes them feel in control in their own lives. And yet this sentiment is often masked with phrases such as "They're my children" and "I gave birth to them" and "I can raise them how I want", all of which are said in the movie. This is the reality of child abuse - an issue that is so often hidden under the power of ownership and the guise of parental choice.

The real hitter comes when you see Shuhei grow up and yet nothing has changed. The time skip with no warning, only to see Shuhei and his sister on the streets leaves the audience feeling even more hopeless than before. Shuhei's obedience to his mother intentionally makes us feel both anger and pity. It leaves the viewer restless and frustrated, asking ourselves "Why can't he just say no?". But the movie answers the question before you can even ask it. Same thing with Shuhei's infuriatingly bland character. Shuhei lacks all personality and rarely speaks. The drawn out silences and the blank expressions that fill the screen every time it's on him leave you desperate for him to say something, so that we as the audience can get to know who he is and see more of his "personality", but we never do. This movie doesn't sell a story, it sells reality. The reality being that child abuse goes beyond childhood. The reality is that children who are abused, manipulated and isolated from society don't have the opportunity to develop into functioning adults who can stand up for themselves or even have a sense of identity. We see this so many times throughout the movie as Shuhei's mother trains him, almost like a dog, to only follow the commands of adults. We see it again when Aya (the social worker) asks Shuhei what his dream is and he says he doesn't know.

I love the mirroring between Aya and Shuhei's characters. Aya grew up in an abusive household but managed to overcome it all, growing up to become a social worker. I would argue that the climax of this whole movie isn't even Shuhei murdering his grandma. The climax of this movie is when Shuhei asks sheepishly if he can stay behind to attend school instead of going on the run with his mum and "stepdad" for the 100th time. This brief and calm moment in the movie is, in my opinion, the most exciting. As a viewer, it's the moment you've been waiting for the whole time. The moment of change. Only to be mercilessly let down as Shuhei's first stance of individuality is brutally shut down. It is a small moment in the movie but a big moment for Shuhei's character and, most importantly, it puts hope into the viewer's hearts only to rip it away seconds later. This is the reality of child abuse. This is the frustration and emotional whiplash that you should feel while watching this. And it shows that Aya's (and the demographic of society that she represents) efforts to change the course of Shuhei's life can't outdo the impact of his childhood training and his mother's ongoing abuse.

The setting is also great. Shuhei's mother denies him the opportunity to go to school, for the entirety of his upbringing. Almost every scene takes place in a cramped and cluttered room, making the viewer feel suffocated. Those tiny rooms were Shuhei's whole world, only occupied by him, his mum, her occasional lovers and the trash surrounding him. The feeling of second-hand claustrophobia and suffocation pushed onto the audience in every scene is one of my favourite aspects of the movie. Again, those who have been abused know this feeling all too well. It's like there isn't a world outside the tiny house where your abuser keeps you. Another great use of direction to show this feeling is in the American show "Maid" where the woman being abused is slowly swallowed by the couch she sleeps on.

The only reason I gave this show 7.5 is because there are a few things that don't add up to me. I don't understand why his mum told him to kill his grandma for money. Didn't the grandma say that she was disowning her? But, assuming the mum can still somehow claim inheritance: I'm assuming that the plan is that Shuhei murders her and then takes all the blame so that his mum can live freely with the inheritance. The issue is that none of this is really explained clearly so the ending ends up being a bit confusing when first watching. I also don't understand why his mother only lost custody of his younger sister after he was put in prison.