★★★★ JAPANESE filmmaker Naomi Kawase returns with a tender and touching exploration of adoption and parenthood in this stunning drama, Japan’s submission for this year’s Academy Awards. The film follows successful professionals Sakoto (Hiromi Nagasaku) and her husband (Arata Iura) who, after a long and unsuccessful struggle to have children, decide to adopt a baby boy. Their world is rocked years later when a girl (Aju Makita), pretending to be the youngster’s birth mother, turns up on their doorstep. The story unfolds via a non-linear time structure as you witness differing perspectives from each of the protagonists — a little confusing at first. With gorgeous, calming visuals of watery landscapes, leafy branches blowing in the wind and breathtaking sunsets interspersed throughout, Kawase paints a thought-provoking picture of the guilt and heartbreak of couples not able to have children and young teenage mothers being forced to give up their babies because they cannot afford to raise them.