True Mothers

Kiyokazu and Satoko are a wealthy couple that has been unsuccessfully attempting to have a child. After a failed treatment for aspermia, they go to a non-profit organization for adoption and are paired with Hikari, a 14-year old girl whose pregnancy came out of pure adolescent love. Her narrow-minded family forces her to give the kid away, who is then raised by the couple, until Hikari unexpectedly reappears in their house six years later demanding her son back.

With a narrative constructed through long flashbacks and nostalgic shots of nature blossoming, the film is structured in two parts – one focused on Kiyokazu’s struggle to get pregnant, and the other on Hikari’s transformation from an innocent child to a hardened young woman. Adapted from a novel by Mizuki Tsujimura, the film reveals the two sides of the difficult experience of abandonment and adoption, resulting in a deeply warm and emotional family drama. Director Naomi Kawakase has developed a visual style that appears light and feminine, while exploring in a thorough and serious way what it means to be a "real" mother.

Please note: Screened with Norwegian subtitles.