J. J. Wright’s review published on Letterboxd:
Bearing in mind that it's only the sixth of his films I've seen (and that Nobody Knows and After Life are not among the other five), this is my favorite Kore-eda by a mile. As in, I spent the first 2/3rds of the movie rapt, captivated, and in some form of joy at these characters, their relationships, and how finely drawn all of it is. I was ready to write this up as a masterpiece and questioned why the common conception of its Cannes win was as a "surprise." Then that last third (and the denouement it contains) left me feeling somewhat less certain, and while I think I may need to sit with it a bit, well, that doesn't take away from how INTO IT I was up until then. Just absolutely loved these characters, their milieu (monetarily poor but just SO emotionally rich), and how sensitively Kore-eda brings them to life.
Also, I didn't find out until after seeing this that Kirin Kiki had died earlier this year, so that just makes this doubly poignant now.