Sweet Bean

Sweet Bean (あん, 2015) is a Japanese drama from Naomi Kawase, ready to watch online on iFILM. Sentaro runs a tiny dorayaki stall on the edge of Tokyo, flipping pancakes without much joy, until a 76-year-old woman named Tokue turns up asking for a job.

She makes red-bean paste the slow way, and word spreads fast enough to bend a line around the block. Her trick is patience: she talks to the beans, waits for hours, lets the steam tell her when it's ready. A quiet bond grows among the gruff shop owner, the elderly cook and a lonely schoolgirl who lingers by the counter. But Tokue carries a past that once made people keep their distance, and it hasn't gone anywhere.

Kirin Kiki turns a recipe lesson into something that quietly breaks your heart. Adapted from Durian Sukegawa's novel, the film opened the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes. It's gentle, unhurried filmmaking about meaning hiding in small details, made for anyone who loves Kore-eda and doesn't mind a little silence. Stream Sweet Bean online on iFILM.