Looking for a wholesome film or something to cry about? Well, you don’t have to go far then. Koreeada Hirokazu is known for his portrayals of the unconventional family through his films, such as Like Father, Like Son (2013) and Broker (2022), but most notably in his 2018 film, Shoplifters. Shoplifters takes place in the urban crowdedness of Tokyo and follows the poverty-stricken Shibata family, an unconventional family comprised of members of varying ages who aren’t blood relatives. To get by living in Tokyo, the family lives in a poorly maintained house while utilizing alternative methods to generate income, most commonly through shoplifting. However, despite what has been said before, Shoplifters is much more than a film of the criminal exploits of this family; rather, the film mainly focuses on the family dynamic between the characters, specifically how their affairs and pasts affect each other, and when a new member joins. 

The plot of Shoplifters begins when the family comes across an abandoned or possibly lost four-year-old girl. After failing to find the parents through a limited search in the cold night, the family decides to take in this young stranger. The girl is quickly accepted into the family and becomes accustomed to their way of life of stealing food and other necessities, as she learns how to shoplift under the guidance of the father figure, Osamu Shibata (played by Lily Franky), and his adopted son, Shota Shibata. But as the film progresses, so must a climax occur, one that will upset the happiness enjoyed by both the Shibata family and the audience in a way that will arguably evoke an unexpected and hard-to-accept sadness, but for some more than others.

Koreeada’s depiction of Tokyo life and the unconventional family helps to enforce themes of the high cost living against the pursuit of happiness, the failures of society, the alienation of incomes, the perceived inescapably of poverty, the human condition, the consequences of lies, and what makes a family to demonstrate that amongst all the challenges and suffering experienced by all individuals on earth, we are all human and that burdens of the world cannot be beared alone. With a critic score of 99% and an audience score of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, Shoplifters is certainly a must-watch movie.