Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “After the Storm” (2016, 117 minutes) is playing through March 30 at Laemmle’s Playhouse 7, 673 E. Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena; Town Center 5, 17200 Ventura Blvd. in Encino; and The Royal, 11523 Santa Monica Blvd. in West Los Angeles.
Showtimes are 1:30, 4:20, 7:10 and 10 p.m. daily, with early shows at 10:40 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
The film, whose Japanese title is “Umi Yori mo Mada Fukaku,” will open on April 1 at the Claremont 5, 450 W. 2ndSt. in Claremont.
In master filmmaker Kore-eda’s elegant and sensitive exploration of family ties, Hiroshi Abe (“Thermae Romae”) stars as Ryota, a once-acclaimed novelist who hasn’t produced in years. A divorced father, he works at a detective agency, but due to his gambling habit, he can’t seem to pay his child support.
After the death of his father, his aging mother Yoshiko (Kirin Kiki of “Sweet Bean”) and his beautiful ex-wife Kyoko (Yoko Maki) appear to be moving on with their lives, but Ryota struggles to find a place in the life of his young son Shingo (Taiyo Yoshizawa).
One night a typhoon forces them to spend the night together, in this funny and touching tale that Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reportercalls “a classic Japanese family drama of gentle persuasion and staggering simplicity.”
Kore-eda is known for such films as “Our Little Sister,” “Like Father, Like Son,” “I Wish,” “Air Doll,” “Still Walking,” “Nobody Knows,” “After Life,” and “Maborosi.”
In Japanese with English subtitles. For more information, call (310) 478-3836 or visit www.laemmle.com.