Nobody Knows

Kore-eda is a renowned Japanese director known for his deeply moving films about families. In this story, he tells of four children abandoned by their mother in a Tokyo apartment. The eldest, 12-year-old Akira, is forced to take on the responsibility of caring for his younger siblings. They survive without school, adults, or resources, doing their best to remain “invisible” to society so they won’t be separated. Three of the children were even smuggled into the apartment in suitcases, hidden from the landlord. All four must learn some basic truths of life on their own — for example, that money runs out, and that a Christmas cake costs half as much just one hour before the holiday.

The film is based on the real-life “Sugamo Case”: in 1988, a Japanese mother did indeed leave her children alone in an apartment for months, with consequences far more tragic than those shown in the film. The events take place over the course of one year, and the filming was intentionally stretched across that same period — allowing the audience to see the seasons change and the children grow.

Actor Yuya Yagira, who played Akira, won the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival, becoming the youngest recipient in history at just 14 years old.