Where his past films have been about family (shinkansen umbilical cords, absent mothers and fathers, and crime-family surrogates) Director Hirokazu Kore-eda surprises here, turning his attention to a legal procedural, but as the murder trial progresses and as lawyer Shigemori works hard to get at the truth behind his murder suspect client's lies, issues of familial connection again come to the fore as Shigemori's relationship with his daughter, a murder victim's relationship with his daughter, and a suspect's relationship with his daughter all speak to what's inside, if anything, the relationship Japan's hulking, self-interested and image-conscious legal system has with those caught up in it.
★★★★☆
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