Longtime readers of this site know of my fondness for director Hirokazu Koreeda, whose emotionally raw, humanist dramas explore what it means to be a parent, to be a child, and to be a family born out of necessity rather than blood. The Palme d’Or winner for Shoplifters, and other renowned films including Our Little Sister, I Wish, and Nobody Knows, returned to Cannes with sci-fi drama Sheep in the Box. It wasn’t received nearly as well as Koreeda’s previous efforts, which may explain why NEON is dropping the trailer now ahead of its release next month, rather than holding it for awards season.
Sheep in the Box is set in the near future, when a grieving couple who have lost their son, take in a humanoid who is identical to their child.
The film stars Haruka Ayase, Daigo Yamamoto, and Rimu Kuwaki.
Koreeda has already completed his next film, Look Back, which opens in Japan in September and will hit U.S. theaters soon after.
Koreeda’s been spotty since Shoplifters, but that’s only because he set the bar so high. Monster and Broker are phenomenal movies that rightfully deserved the accolades they received, but 2019’s The Truth was a rare misfire. As a fan, I’m hyped to see Koreeda returning to sci-fi for the first time since 2009’s Air Doll.
Sheep in the Box hits theaters on July 24th.
