In the opening scene of Hirokazu Kore-eda¡¯s new film ¡°Sheep in the Box,¡± a drone delivers a brochure to a grieving couple advertising a humanoid modeled after their dead son. The service is offered by a company that promises bereaved families the chance to reconnect with lost loved ones. What happens next forms the emotional core of Kore-eda¡¯s most fable-like and philosophically searching film to date.
Competing for the Palme d¡¯Or at the 79th Cannes Film Festival ¡ª the director¡¯s eighth time in the main competition ¡ª ¡°Sheep in the Box¡± opens in Japan on May 29. The film also marks Kore-eda¡¯s return to his own original Japanese-language screenplay for the first time since ¡°Shoplifters¡± won the Palme d¡¯Or in 2018.?
Haruka Ayase and mononymous comedian-turned-actor Daigo play Otone and Kensuke, respectively, a married couple grappling with the death of their 7-year-old son, Kakeru, two years earlier. The film is set in the near future, where AI has made it possible to ¡°grow¡± a humanoid child (played with remarkable restraint by first-time actor Rimu Kuwaki) that echoes the personality and memories of the deceased.
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