[N Plus] What Makes a Family in the Age of AI? Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Sheep in a Box”

Still from “Sheep in a Box.” Photo by NEW.

Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda has long explored the fragile structures of family through quiet yet emotionally precise storytelling. His films often place children at the center of grief, loss, and fractured relationships, capturing emotions that linger long after the screen fades to black.

Now, in an era increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, Kore-eda turns his attention toward a new form of family. Sheep in a Box follows a humanoid created to resemble a deceased child and the grieving couple who choose to bring it into their home. The film is reportedly inspired by real-world AI “resurrection” projects in China that digitally recreate the dead through advanced technology.

“Sheep in a Box.” Photo by NEW.

“I am seven years old. A humanoid robot. One day, I got a mom and dad.”

Programmed with the personality and appearance of a seven-year-old boy, the humanoid is adopted by a family that lost their son in a tragic accident. Inside a warm two-story house, he begins to experience life as part of a family, calling one woman “Mom” and another man “Mister.” Yet beneath that happiness grows a persistent fear: the possibility of being abandoned once again.

The story centers on Otone and Kensuke, a couple struggling to live with the absence of their child. Haruka Ayase stars as Otone, while Daigo of the comedy duo Chidori plays Kensuke. What begins as an attempt to heal gradually reveals emotional fractures, as affection, guilt, trust, and doubt collide within the household.

“Sheep in a Box.” Photo by NEW.

Carrying the tagline “The time of a family begins to move again,” the film appears less interested in technological spectacle than in the emotional consequences of replacing loss with something artificial. Through the uneasy coexistence between humans and an almost-human child, Kore-eda once again asks what truly defines a family.

Hirokazu Kore-eda won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for Shoplifters and later returned to competition with Broker and Monster. With Sheep in a Box, the director once again secures a place in Cannes’ main competition lineup, reaffirming his stature as one of contemporary cinema’s defining auteurs.

The film will hold its world premiere at the 79th Cannes Film Festival on May 13 local time before opening in South Korea on June 10.

Reported by News Culture [e-mail]