From left: Daigo, Rimu Kuwaki and Haruka Ayase in 'Sheep in the Box.' Cannes Film Festival Sheep in the Box, a sci-fi drama from the Japanese master Hirokazu Kore-eda that is in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, had its world premiere on Saturday afternoon at the Grand Théâtre Lumière, and received a five-minute standing ovation from the gathered crowd.
The filmmaker’s 17th feature, which Neon will distribute later this year in the U.S., imagines the world in the near future, at a time when artificial intelligence has come to dominate virtually every aspect of our lives. Amidst this backdrop, Haruka Ayase and Daigo Yamamoto play a young couple mourning the recent death of their son, who brings a humanoid child robot into their home.
Kore-eda, who tends to make dramas about families, is a Cannes regular. At the fest, he previously debuted 2013’s Like Father, Like Son (which was awarded the Jury Prize), 2015’s Our Little Sister, 2016’s After the Storm, 2018’s Shoplifters (which won the Palme d’Or), 2022’s Broker and 2023’s Monster. Shoplifters went on to receive a best international feature Oscar nomination.
The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney, in his review of Sheep in the Box, called it a “must see.” Kore-eda shared his own thoughts on the film in a May 15 interview with THR’s Patrick Brzeski.
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