Shoplifters (2018)

Hirokazu Koreeda's Palme d'Or winner is a powerful meditation on family, as are all of his films. In his previous works, he has analyzed different family dynamics, but in this film he uniquely asks what makes a family? He does slow, careful, bittersweet drama so well. Don't take anything for granted. The screenplay slowly unravels what he wants you to know when he wants you to know it. But you must pay close attention to the dialogue. Everything is deliberate. This is Kiki Kirin's final performance. She was an frequent collaborator with Koreeda and she is just as magnificent in this movie. All the performances are believable as one big content family.

Like Father, Like Son (2013)

This is another beautiful film from the Japanese master, but I feel like there is something missing. Unlike Still Walking and After the Storm, this movie is missing that moment when the emotion just overwhelms you and you don't quite know why.  That moment is not necessarily at the climax. It sneaks up on you quietly and delicately. That being said, this movie doesn't really have a climax. There is a runaway scene that almost hits a climax, but it doesn't quite get there. There is a scene when emotion finally hits the protagonist, but at that point it's too late. He has been so emotionless for so long that it doesn't make the viewer emotional.

The movie still has Koreeda's characteristic carefully crafted dialogue. He maybe does a little more telling than he typically does, usually letting the visuals speak for themselves.  He's typically a master of show-don't-tell. The movie is a switched-at-birth drama that asks if parents can love a child that is not theirs. The kids are so cute and so good.