You need to hear all sides to get the facts straight.

Why would 5th grader Minato (Soya Kurokawa) deliberately fall out of the car door, cut his own hair, lose a sneaker bring home dirt in his water bottle, or shout “Who’s the monster” in a tunnel? And how did his ear get hurt? His excuse to his mother Saori (Sakura Ando) is that his brain was switched with a pig, and that his homeroom teacher Mr. Hori (Eita Nagayama) told him he was a monster. That’s when the mother must get to the bottom of this.

That’s the set-up for “Monster,” the latest Japanese import from director and editor Hirokazu Kore-eda (“Shoplifters”). You think the same complaints will go on for two hours, but this isn’t the case. It deals with a case between who is right and who is wrong, and there are different sides to this. And there could be something more to the story than meets the eye.

Saori receives an apology, but she is infuriated that both the teacher and principal Makiko Fushimi (Yuko Tanaka) tell her it’s some kind of “misunderstanding.” But it’s not a misunderstanding. And also Mr. Hori accuses the boy of being a bully to his classmate Yori (Hinata Hiiragi).

It all becomes a case, which the teacher must try to play along with in order to survive. Anything he denies can push things further.

Then, we see the situation through Mr. Hori’s perspective, when he’s in love with Hirona (Akihiro Tsunoda), when the situation between him and the boy was really a misunderstanding, and when we acknowledge where the “pig brain” theory came from.

And finally, we see the story through the perspectives of the two boys, who are actually good friends whose intimacy is threatened by whatever pathos crosses their paths. This is when things really kick in.

“Monster” is a pensive and emotionally complex film that brings out the personalities of the characters, who all have their qualities and difficulties. Some are harder than others, but I’m not talking about sinister natures. I’m talking about the problems they have to deal with in life. I don’t want to spoil much, because I want you to be surprised as I was. And the performances are all universally excellent, from the adults to the kids, and they all refuse to succumb to any clichés this particular genre can offer.

This isn’t the case of either the teacher or the student behind the real assailant; this is about something deeper which tries to convince us either of them could be guilty. The more you watch “Monster,” the more you grasp the humanity inside.

Kore-eda directs and edits Yugi Sakamoto screenplay with the right ambiance, which can reflect on the tension of what the true story behind the boy’s behavior unfolds. Even the score, composed by the late Ryuichi Sakamoto, draws out the drama. This movie refuses to settle for anything easy; it chooses to challenges our minds about why these characters do what they do, and how they can overcome them.

I’ve seen irritable American dramas which rely on the most typical cliches. But “Monster” isn’t an American film; it’s a Japanese opus with human characters who you want to understand. You want to acknowledge who they are on the inside, and it all becomes consistent. You don’t get everything about them, but you’re able to get enough time to know them. This is a gorgeous film.

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