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Hirokazu Kore-edas Sheep in the Box Explores AI-Driven Grief Amid Cannes Debut
On 16 May, the 2026 Cannes Film Festival opened its main competition to Hirokazu Kore‑eda’s latest feature, Sheep in the Box. The 90‑minute drama follows a quiet suburban couple in Japan as they confront the possibility of a digital surrogate for their lost son. The film debuted in the festival’s competitive slate and later opened in Japanese theaters on 29 May through Toho.
The story centers on Otone Komoto, played by Haruka Ayase, and her husband Kensuke, portrayed by Daigo Yamamoto. Two years after the public death of their son Kakeru (Rimu Kuwaki), a drone delivers a flyer advertising REbirth, a fictional AI start‑up that claims to recreate deceased loved ones as interactive robots. The couple is offered a free “replicant” of Kakeru, sparking a quiet domestic drama that unfolds over the course of a single day. Otone embraces the machine as a surrogate child, while Kensuke remains skeptical, likening the device to a Tamagotchi or Roomba. The film follows the couple’s routine more than a conventional conflict, allowing Kore‑eda’s trademark restraint to let the emotional stakes surface through subtle gestures and silences.
Kore‑eda, whose previous works such as Nobody Knows (2004), Still Walking (2008) and Like Father, Like Son (2013) have earned him acclaim for probing family dynamics, again turns his lens to the terrain of loss. The director wrote and edited the script, attempting to examine how a synthetic child might help a grieving family process trauma. Critics have noted the film’s restrained tone and minimal dialogue, describing the treatment as uneven in how it navigates its speculative premise.
Reactions at Cannes were mixed. Reviewers from The New York Times, In Review Online and Deep Focus Review praised Ayase and Yamamoto’s performances but questioned whether the story fully realized its speculative premise. Slant Magazine called the film an “AI grief drama that muffles its huge themes.” The title references a scene from Antoine de Saint‑Exupéry’s The Little Prince, hinting at the idea of a child as a symbol of innocence.
Sheep in the Box joins a broader cultural conversation about digital afterlives. In 2024, the German‑American documentary Eternal You premiered at Sundance, following real‑world AI start‑ups that build digital avatars for deceased relatives. The documentary highlighted ethical and emotional complexities of such services and was released in Germany on 20 June 2024 by Farbfilm Verleih. The fictional REbirth company in Kore‑eda’s film echoes the real‑world trend of “techno‑spiritualism,” a term used to describe the blending of technology and spiritual practices. According to Eternal You, companies in this space use photos, voice recordings and text conversations to create chatbots that mimic a deceased person’s personality. The film’s portrayal of REbirth’s free offer—an inexpensive entry point that may lead to later micro‑transactions—mirrors concerns raised by critics about commodifying grief.
The release strategy reflects the current state of Japanese cinema. After its Cannes premiere, Sheep in the Box opened in Japanese theaters on 29 May, with Toho handling distribution. The pattern of showcasing at international festivals before domestic theatrical runs is familiar from Kore‑eda’s recent works, such as Broker (2022) and Monster (2023).
In sum, Sheep in the Box offers a quiet, contemplative look at how technology might intersect with mourning. While the film’s narrative may not fully explore the philosophical questions it raises, it contributes to a growing body of work that examines the human desire to reconnect with lost loved ones through artificial means. The film’s mixed critical reception and its placement at Cannes underscore the challenges of translating complex emotional themes into a cinematic format.
As of now, the film’s future includes potential festival screenings beyond Cannes and a domestic theatrical run that will determine its commercial performance. No further production or distribution announcements have been made.
The story centers on Otone Komoto, played by Haruka Ayase, and her husband Kensuke, portrayed by Daigo Yamamoto. Two years after the public death of their son Kakeru (Rimu Kuwaki), a drone delivers a flyer advertising REbirth, a fictional AI start‑up that claims to recreate deceased loved ones as interactive robots. The couple is offered a free “replicant” of Kakeru, sparking a quiet domestic drama that unfolds over the course of a single day. Otone embraces the machine as a surrogate child, while Kensuke remains skeptical, likening the device to a Tamagotchi or Roomba. The film follows the couple’s routine more than a conventional conflict, allowing Kore‑eda’s trademark restraint to let the emotional stakes surface through subtle gestures and silences.
Kore‑eda, whose previous works such as Nobody Knows (2004), Still Walking (2008) and Like Father, Like Son (2013) have earned him acclaim for probing family dynamics, again turns his lens to the terrain of loss. The director wrote and edited the script, attempting to examine how a synthetic child might help a grieving family process trauma. Critics have noted the film’s restrained tone and minimal dialogue, describing the treatment as uneven in how it navigates its speculative premise.
Reactions at Cannes were mixed. Reviewers from The New York Times, In Review Online and Deep Focus Review praised Ayase and Yamamoto’s performances but questioned whether the story fully realized its speculative premise. Slant Magazine called the film an “AI grief drama that muffles its huge themes.” The title references a scene from Antoine de Saint‑Exupéry’s The Little Prince, hinting at the idea of a child as a symbol of innocence.
Sheep in the Box joins a broader cultural conversation about digital afterlives. In 2024, the German‑American documentary Eternal You premiered at Sundance, following real‑world AI start‑ups that build digital avatars for deceased relatives. The documentary highlighted ethical and emotional complexities of such services and was released in Germany on 20 June 2024 by Farbfilm Verleih. The fictional REbirth company in Kore‑eda’s film echoes the real‑world trend of “techno‑spiritualism,” a term used to describe the blending of technology and spiritual practices. According to Eternal You, companies in this space use photos, voice recordings and text conversations to create chatbots that mimic a deceased person’s personality. The film’s portrayal of REbirth’s free offer—an inexpensive entry point that may lead to later micro‑transactions—mirrors concerns raised by critics about commodifying grief.
The release strategy reflects the current state of Japanese cinema. After its Cannes premiere, Sheep in the Box opened in Japanese theaters on 29 May, with Toho handling distribution. The pattern of showcasing at international festivals before domestic theatrical runs is familiar from Kore‑eda’s recent works, such as Broker (2022) and Monster (2023).
In sum, Sheep in the Box offers a quiet, contemplative look at how technology might intersect with mourning. While the film’s narrative may not fully explore the philosophical questions it raises, it contributes to a growing body of work that examines the human desire to reconnect with lost loved ones through artificial means. The film’s mixed critical reception and its placement at Cannes underscore the challenges of translating complex emotional themes into a cinematic format.
As of now, the film’s future includes potential festival screenings beyond Cannes and a domestic theatrical run that will determine its commercial performance. No further production or distribution announcements have been made.
