Some Tech CEO Is Going To Seriously Misread Hirokazu Koreeda’s New Movie

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I think what Sam Altman said about the movie Her really hits home. It got me thinking – someone, some tech founder building one of those unsettling companies that tries to bring back lost loved ones using AI, is eventually going to watch Sheep in the Box and completely misinterpret it as support for what they’re doing. And honestly, that’s a little scary because it absolutely isn’t an endorsement – it’s a warning!

Hirokazu Koreeda, a celebrated Japanese director known for his subtle and moving films, presents Sheep in the Box. The story is set in the near future and follows a grieving couple who choose to rent a robotic replica of their son, who passed away two years prior. Otone Komoto, an architect, and her husband Kensuke, a woodworker, haven’t truly processed their grief, instead focusing on work and maintaining a facade of normalcy. They receive an advertisement from a company called REbirth – which, somewhat insensitively, was also present at their son’s funeral – and Otone, feeling particularly vulnerable, agrees to learn more. REbirth creates incredibly realistic androids, called “humanoids,” designed to resemble deceased loved ones, powered by artificial intelligence trained on photos and videos.

After a presentation, Otone and Kensuke encounter a young, human-like robot at the company cafeteria, brought in for repairs. Its mother surprisingly reveals her life now revolves around this artificial recreation of her deceased son, but the pair are mostly struck by how realistic the robot appears. The film, Sheep in the Box, explores familiar territory – similar to the themes in A.I. Artificial Intelligence and Her – but feels more grounded in a near-future reality where such technology could exist. However, unlike those films, Sheep in the Box doesn’t ask if we should create AI, but rather accepts that we will, with a sense of quiet sadness. This sentiment echoes director Hirokazu Koreeda’s previous work, like Nobody Knows and Shoplifters, which focused on abandoned children and found families, and Air Doll, about a living doll. Essentially, the film views AI not as a marvel, but as another thing society is likely to mishandle, despite the Komotos’ attempts at kindness.

Otone and Kensuke are generally kind people, though Otone initially becomes overly attached to the replacement Kakeru. She starts to believe this new robot is uniquely special, almost to the point of self-delusion, despite knowing he’s simply meant to be a reflection of the past. That past is something both Otone and Kensuke have been selectively remembering as they grapple with guilt over what happened. They each misunderstand how Kakeru functions in different ways. Otone, who has a complicated relationship with her own mother, tries to compensate for perceived failings by only giving REbirth happy memories of her late son to work with – it’s like trying to present a perfect image to the world. Kensuke is initially resistant to the new Kakeru, treating him like a simple machine and insisting on formality. However, when Kakeru recognizes someone from his son’s kindergarten during a trip to the aquarium, Kensuke begins to believe the robot knows more than he should. He then starts taking Kakeru to places from the day of the accident, hoping to uncover who was responsible for his son’s death.

It’s unsettling to see how easily people project feelings and beliefs – like the idea that ChatGPT has a soul or knows everything – onto artificial intelligence, especially when that AI is portrayed by a charming child actor. However, director Koreeda avoids creating a cautionary or frightening story. Instead, Sheep in the Box remains gentle and hopeful as its characters work through their pain. While the film delicately explores Otone and Kensuke’s grief, the most striking moments are often the smaller, more unusual ones – like a boy crushing bugs to hear their sound, or his secret meetings with other artificial beings. The film’s title comes from a chapter in The Little Prince where the narrator, tired of drawing sheep, simply draws a box and says the sheep is inside. Throughout Sheep in the Box, what’s happening inside Kakeru remains somewhat enigmatic, but the film ultimately suggests that if he and others like him survive, it’s because humanity is too stuck in its ways to adapt and endure.

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2026-05-17 17:54