90
Yuya Yagira, winner of the best actor award at Cannes this year, is superb as the protective eldest child; he and his other nonprofessional costars are quietly heartbreaking.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
80
The New Yorker by Anthony Lane
I certainly came out of Nobody Knows feeling numb; only later, reflecting on the fact that the movie was inspired by a true story, did it occur to me that the numbness could have been deliberate, and that what suffused this picture was a mist of anger.
90
The New York Times by Dana Stevens
Not for the faint of heart, though it has no scenes of overt violence, and barely a tear is shed. It is also strangely thrilling, not only because of the quiet assurance of Mr. Kore-eda's direction, but also because of his alert, humane sense of sympathy.
80
Kore-eda sketches the inner, spiritual and emotional lives of the children with subtlety and sensitivity, delivering the goods after a seemingly directionless first half.
75
New York Daily News by Jami Bernard
Excellent, troubling social commentary based on a true story.
80
Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda's most accessible film to date is also his most wrenching.
100
Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum
Yagira's performance is so extraordinary, it won him the best actor prize at the 2004 Cannes film festival.
80
Village Voice by Michael Atkinson
It's a heart-sundering vision of preadolescent helplessness that rivals passages of "Landscape in the Mist" and "Ponette."
80
Loosely structured around four seasons, Nobody Knows unfolds in a long series of episodes that slowly progress from lightly comic to bracingly sad as the situation deteriorates.
88
Kore-eda presents the deeply moving story in a documentary style that is both gentle and compelling.