This is your typical example of "The Emperor's New Clothes"If you have better and more important things to do, this is not a film to watch. You're really not missing anything by skipping this film. It's one of those sleeper films that you'd play during midnight and eventually fall asleep to. Don't get me wrong, I was actually excited to watch this, but I mean seriously, somebody has to speak out the truth -- this is really just your average movie where nothing really happens. So it has a cute cast, especially Suzu Hirose, and it's by a well known acclaimed director (seems where most of the bias is coming from), but there's no real suspense/drama/conflict or anything. It's just like another overrated film "Linda Linda Linda", where nothing really happens, but people seem to love it just because of the girls.One might argue, "Well, it's showing the real life day in the life of that Hollywood can never make!" Well, of course they won't make something like this because it's just simply boring; just showing sisters taking care of each other is absolutely boring. (I mean, honestly, I don't care for Hollywood blockbuster/action films/especially all the superhero movies either, I'm obviously not expecting that, but I also watch a lot of foreign/Japanese films and this really is overrated stuff.) Sure, to a foreigner, just seeing the countryside location taking place in Kamakura, Japan, and random bike riding scenes under the cherry blossoms is all beautiful and all, but that's all superficial. Where's the story? Too many Weeaboos, or people exclusively watching this at film festivals, overpraising this film than what it really is.

According to IMDb, the director/screenplay writer Hirokazu Koreeda had Ozu and his style of directing in mind when he made this film. I agree that it is in some ways...though not all. First, like Ozu's films, this is a family story about people and it's a bit slow...or, more accurately, deliberate. Second, often the director uses a camera at floor level...like Ozu. But the film isn't strictly like this famed director, as the camera does not remain stationary and there are some outdoor shots which aren't exactly Ozu-like. None of this is meant to be derogatory...just some observations.The film begins with the death of three adults sisters' step-mother. They had no love for her, as their father left their mother for this other woman. But it also creates a problem...they have a half sister, Sozu*, from this marriage and the teenage girl now has no one...only three sisters she doesn't even know. Well, the three decide to move into their grandmother's old house and take care of Sozu. Through the course of the film, you learn about the three girls' mother, the guilt Sozu is unnecessarily carrying and what a sweet girl she is...and what a welcome addition she is to the family.There's no way around it..."Our Little Sister" is a slow film. But I didn't mind because it was handled so well--with lovely direction, some terrific acting and some very, very sweet moments...particularly at the end. Plus seeing how the angriest sister dealt with their mother was fascinating. All in all, a terrific film...but because of its pace, it's not for everyone.*Throughout the film, the English captions sometimes called the girl 'Sozu' and other times 'Suzu'. I am not sure which one is correct.

This is a warm story that three sisters and a half sister by a different mother. Three sisters, Sachi, Yoshino, and Chika live in Kamakura alone. They have bad news that their father who disappeared from them 15 years ago pasts away. They leaves for Yamagata where holds a funeral for him, and meets a half sister by a different mother, Suzu. Sachi worries about Suzu because she becomes emaciated from the death of her father, and suggests her to live with three sisters.In this movie, big events don't happen, for example, conflicts, disagreement among people. However, I think this movie is good because this can describe little happiness of every day conscientiously. The acting of four sisters is so natural and good. The acting of Suzu is especially great. I think Suzu is the difficult role who is a half sister by the woman father is having an affair with, but Suzu Hirose can play her naturally and describe well the girl who keeps her real thoughts all to herself. I want to recommend this movie people who want to heave a sigh of relief or think about family deeply.

It was based on the manga series. This is from one of the best directors from Japan that I am familiar with his works. I have seen some of his previous films and I loved them all, but sadly not this time. To be honest, I'm not the fan of this kind of movies, but I have watched them a lot before and liked them a lot. This movie is totally made for the film critics and film festivals, but winning awards that I never understood how.They call it an art film, but not everyone going to enjoy it. There's no entertainment in it, nor inspiring. It was like someone's real life portrayed on the screen yet not a documentary. I mean it covered everything, every bit of that person's life, even that was not so important, but only to kill the run time. If you want to try it, make sure got lots of time, especially watching it with patience is very essential.So what I meant was this film is completely out of cinematic experience like what a film fanatic, families least expect from a movie. It was without the twists, turns, thrills, sad, happy, romance because of too much realism. In one word, it was a straightforward narrative. There will be no exciting developments, nor easy to predict.If someone is going like it, that might be mostly out of courtesy, and maybe for the cast and their performances and the respect for the film making or maybe they're somewhat close to this story. But individuals have their own reasons why they liked it, likewise I'm writing this review to say why I did not like much. Other than that, I don't see anything special in it to praise this product."I'll be in your hands from now on."Don't accuse me that I'm totally bashing it, actually to me it was an average movie, which mean I did not hate nor liked. The best thing I found in the movie was the characters. Four sisters living under the one roof with love and care for one another. But the movie failed to focus them all equally by leaning too much on only a couple of characters. Like the title say obviously it centres on the 14 year old Suzu who's the youngest among and the newest member to join the house. But that did not bring the best story out of that character, at least not as what I hoped for.The photography was good, the locations were beautiful, especially in the opening that rural Japan. A brief view into the Japanese culture, especially the lifestyle of the young independent women. Frame by frame it gives the feel of you are watching an anime movie. I think I might have loved it if it was an anime, because usually a young girl or a boy theme is always a success.In this kind of film making, it is always the combination of the characters and the story. The characters were fantastic in this, but the story was not, hence I was disappointed a bit. I never interested in the gossip about someone's life. Maybe that's why I did not like this because I felt like it was someone's life which is nothing to do with me.You know normal life is too boring in reality as well as to see in a movie. But I still respect the movie, that's why I did not consider it a bad film. I won't suggest it, but you might like what I did not because of the different taste in the movies. So all I say is choose it carefully, don't let the ratings and the reviews deceive you, including mine.6/10