Palme d’Or-winning director Koreeda Hirokazu (Shoplifters) brings his signature humanism to LOOK BACK, a deeply moving adaptation about the wild emotional swings of childhood friendship, and the process of finding your voice through art.

Nikaho City, northern Japan. Fourth-grader Fujino (Natsuki Deguchi) enjoys the admiration of her classmates, who delight in the four-panel comics she publishes in the school newspaper. But her confidence is shaken when Kyōmoto (Aju Makita), a reclusive socially anxious classmate, begins submitting work of extraordinary and superior skill. What starts as quiet rivalry soon evolves into a profound creative partnership, bound by a shared devotion to illustration. As they grow together, and eventually apart, their journey traces the fragile interplay of connection, ambition and regret.