The Third Murder (2017)

"No one here tells the truth"

I’ve enjoyed most of Koreeda Hirokazu’s films that I’ve watched but The Third Murder was more of a challenge. Fukuyama Masaharu and Yakusho Koji gave powerful performances in a glacially slow courtroom drama where nothing was as it seemed and everyone lied. Right to the bitter end.

Attorney Shigemori Tomoaki has been assigned to a case where the defendant has already confessed to the murder of a factory owner. Because he is a repeat offender and robbery was involved, he’s likely to be sentenced to death. If Shigemori can convince the jury robbery wasn’t the motivating factor he can likely get the sentence reduced to life in prison. A grudge related murder is somehow less damaging than robbery (selfish). Shigemori doesn’t care to understand Misumi and the truth is irrelevant. All he needs is an argument to reduce Misumi’s sentence. The victim’s daughter becomes involved in the case muddying the waters as does her mother. Despite his trained instincts, Shigemori begins to question their planned defense and seeks to understand the truth behind the murder.

“We’re all on the same ship called Justice.” Well, buddy, that ship was sinking fast. Neither side of the courtroom was interested in the truth. Schedules had to be kept, reputations had to be protected, judicial economy was important, and cases had to be won. And it didn’t help that the defendant’s story changed from day to day. What was one to believe? This film also touched on the ways "good citizens" harmed each other every day by pretending to not see injustice and crimes and who abused and took advantage of the vulnerable.

As much as I love Koji’s acting, this film belonged to Masaharu. Watching Shigemori go from cocky, strategic planner with no emotional attachments to his clients to a man completely ensnared by Misumi and Sakie’s stories was mesmerizing. That’s saying something given how slowly and repetitively the film moved. Koji, of course, knew exactly how to play his character to draw both Shigemori and the audience in. The acting was superb and well worth the time to watch these two actors play off each other in a life and death dance.

The Third Murder had great potential, especially with the acting as I just mentioned and the cinematography was excellent. Koreeda’s esoteric dream board of themes-free will, justice, truth, control, judgement, predestination, and understanding—was never fully served by the film. Worst of all, the characters and story were too enigmatic to care about. If the writer/director wasn’t committed enough to answer the most basic questions of who did what to whom and why, why should the viewer care? If you enjoy either of the leads or mysterious films that leave all the details to the audience to decide upon, it’s worth a watch.

"Do you believe that story?"

22 July 2026

Koji Murder Movies Note: Under the Open Sky (2020) was a better film starring Yakusho Koji as a lifetime criminal.

Ratings Note: I rarely go by the MDL suggestion as rewatch rating and music rating play almost zero roles in my ratings. This time I filled out the stars and let MDL choose the rating as I was torn between a 7.0 and 7.5, largely influenced by the acting skills over film satisfaction.

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Japanese lumiere, Hirokazu Koreeda takes a bold move from his gentle family dramas to a crime drama. Yes, I applaud his shift. But perhaps, this is Koreeda's weakest film to date.

It is a very interesting film that explores the judicial system especially Japan's given its almost 99% conviction rate. It is a good look at how lawyers, the defendants, the victim and even the prosecution work. Indeed, the storyline is intriguing particularly of my fondness of courtroom/crime stories.

Koreeda tries his outmost best to keep his signature gentleness—using music. The opening scene is particularly a contrast. A brutal murder yet you have grand classical piece playing in the background and this goes on throughout the entire film. Perhaps this choice show meaning given its subject.

Koreeda has always been a show-don't-tell director and that's very very true here. The point is not to determine whether the lead is guilty or not but it's more sentimental—typical of Koreeda's film. It's always been about exploration, with more focus on its characters. Here, we get that too. And you have actors that Koreeda has worked with in the past to wrap the film up.

But my problem is The Third Murder just feels...dry. Now, Koreeda's film like I said, has always been about exploration. But My Little Sister for instance, while not having an impactful premise was at least...colorful. But The Third Murder felt too nihilistic for my taste that I found myself closing my eyes at times (because I was sleepy) or check my phone for the time.

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