Orphanhood and belonging

His films like 'Shoplifters' and 'Nobody Knows' intimately explore makeshift families and the bonds formed outside traditional structures, centering on abandoned or displaced children seeking belonging.

Through neorealist narratives in films like 'Kes' and 'Sweet Sixteen', he examines how socially marginalized and parentless youth struggle to find identity and connection within indifferent systems.

Her psychologically nuanced films such as 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' and 'You Were Never Really Here' probe the fractured relationships between parents and children, and the trauma of disconnection.