When their estranged father dies, Sachi, Yoshino and Chika go to his funeral in a small Japanese town. There they meet Suzu, their 14-year-old half-sister and his child with the woman he left their mother for. She is now an orphan who lives with her stepmother. Sachi, the oldest, decides to invite Suzu to come live with them in Kamakura, where a whole new world opens up to her, both joyful and sad.

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There is a spontaneity that grips the first few minutes of Our Little Sister, which is centered around the clear and compelling dynamic between the three sisters, played with much humor and reticence by Haruka Ayase, Masami Nagasawa and Kaho. This very charming trio that goes from laughter to tears in a surprising instant are the best thing about this film by Hirokazu Koreeda - who returns to the theme of complex family history he used in Like Father, Like Son, winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes 2013. The actresses’ performances make up for this tragicomic movie’s long bits, its failings and that fact that it is sometimes too heavy.