Nobody Knows (誰も知らない, Dare mo Shiranai) is a 2004 Japanese drama film based on the 1988 Sugamo child abandonment case.

[2] The film is written, produced, directed and edited by Hirokazu Kore-eda, and it stars Yuya Yagira, Ayu Kitaura, and Hiei Kimura.

[3] Nobody Knows tells the story of four children: Akira, Kyōko, Shigeru, and Yuki, who are aged between five and twelve years old.

[4] At the time Yuya Yagira became the youngest Best Actor winner in the history of the Cannes Film Festival.

[5] It was Japan's official submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 77th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.

Only the eldest, Akira, is known to the landlord; he and his mother Keiko smuggle the youngest boy and girl, Shigeru and Yuki, into the apartment inside suitcases.

Akira is forced to take charge of paying the rent and other expenses and caring for his younger siblings.

Again running out of money, they are unable to pay their rent any longer and subsist on inexpensive food from the convenience store.

In an apologetic gesture, Akira takes his siblings to a nearby park to play and buys them candy and toys at the convenience store.

They start a garden on the veranda of the apartment, planting seeds from wildflowers inside instant noodle cups.

They then return to the apartment, and the film ends with Akira, Kyōko, Shigeru, and Saki still together, walking home.

[9] He also spent a very long time getting to know his subjects, and wanted the young cast members to interact, grow, and express their personalities freely, with as little adult dictation as possible.

[10] He did not use the usual structuring and cueing methods, but instead uses a discreet camera to show how children really live when no one is looking.

[9] The director Hirokazu Kore-eda held extensive auditions to cast the four children, and the actors were all nonprofessionals.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Tragic and haunting, a beautifully heart-wrenching portrait of child abandonment.

"[16] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 88 out of 100, with all 31 critics giving positive reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

[10] The New York Times says that the film is "too naturalistic, and too disturbing, to be a movie for children, but it nonetheless engages the audience's wondering, childlike imagination as well as its worrying adult conscience".

[18] It further adds that "It is also strangely thrilling, not only because of the quiet assurance of Mr. Kore-eda's direction, but also because of his alert, humane sense of sympathy".