Shoplifters poster

Shoplifters (2018)

Film · 2h · Rated R · In Japanese

Crime, Drama, Foreign (non-English), Thriller

A gritty, intimate drama where a found family's shoplifting ways lead to heartbreakingly bleak revelations.

Melancholy. A full-attention watch at a measured pace. Emotionally it is devastating.

Streaming on Netflix, Prime Video, Kanopy (free), Hoopla (free), The Roku Channel (free), Plex (free) and 1 more.

Shoplifters parents guide

Moderate sex and nudity, and some violence, about what an R should carry.

Scare
Not scary
Jump scares
None noted
Gore
No gore
Violence
Some violence
Some fighting or peril.
Sex and nudity
Moderate
Moderate means a sex scene or nudity on screen, even brief, or sexual violence that is described or implied but never shown.
Language
Mild
Mild words like damn, hell or crap.

How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.

Three questions

Is Shoplifters scary?
No. Shoplifters is not a scary watch.
How gory is Shoplifters?
No gore and some violence. Squeamish viewers are fine here.
What is Shoplifters rated, and is it OK for kids?
Moderate sex and nudity. The R is earned, so not for kids.

What is Shoplifters about?

In the outskirts of Tokyo, a poor but close-knit group living on the fringes of society survives through shoplifting and odd jobs. When Osamu and his son take in a neglected young girl, their already fragile existence begins to unravel. As the family grows attached to her, buried secrets surface, forcing them to confront the true meaning of love, belonging, and what makes a family.

Does it have a happy ending? (spoiler-safe)

Bittersweet. It earns its ending, but not everyone gets what they want.

Cast and crew

Directed byHirokazu Kore-eda
StarringLily Franky, Sakura Ando, Mayu Matsuoka, Kairi Jo, Miyu Sasaki, Kirin Kiki

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Shoplifters is on our Japanese, Thriller on Netflix, Crime on Netflix, Thriller on Prime Video and Drama on Prime Video lists.

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Uses the TMDB API; not endorsed or certified by TMDB. Intensity, content, tone and pace tags are CouchRot's own.