The Third Murder(三度目の殺人)

Paste Magazine by Andrew Crump

The Third Murder may not be Kore-eda’s best work, but the film proves a satisfying challenge, a complex exploration of sin and righteousness in an amoral world.

Slant Magazine by Chuck Bowen

In The Third Murder, as in his other films, Hirokazu Kore-eda informs tragedy with a distinctive kind of qualified humor that's realistic of how people process atrocity.

Screen International by Dan Fainaru

Kore-Eda, writer, director and editor, an auteur in the full sense of the word, tunes his approach to the genre, but only up to a certain point.

Film Journal International by Daniel Eagan

Technically splendid but emotionally distant, The Third Murder will seem more like a detour than a destination for his fans.

IndieWire by David Ehrlich

A harsh and largely unwelcome change of pace from Japan’s greatest living humanist filmmaker, The Third Murder finds Hirokazu Kore-eda abandoning the warmth of his recent family dramas (“Still Walking,” “After the Storm”) in favor of an ice-cold legal thriller that pedagogically dismantles the death penalty.

The Hollywood Reporter by Deborah Young

Though different in feeling from the Japanese writer-director's perceptive family tales like After the Storm, it has the same clarity of thought and precision of image as his very best work.

Variety by Dennis Harvey

Compelling enough while you’re watching it, frustrating then forgettable once it ends, this is a work that wouldn’t command much attention if it came from any other director. Coming from this one, it mostly intrigues as an unexpected if not terribly rewarding change of pace.

CineVue by John Bleasdale

Kore-eda has unquestionably added a new, intriguing angle to his meditation on family life in contemporary Japan.

The A.V. Club by Mike D'Angelo

The film’s fourth murder involves the slow asphyxiation of the viewer’s patience.

The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw

The Third Murder is a captivating puzzle.