Kore-eda Hirokazu Shows ‘Sheep in the Box’ at Cannes
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- Kore-eda Hirokazu returns to Cannes competition with his new film “Sheep in the Box,” a meditation on AI’s impact on grieving and the ethics of recreating the dead.
- The film follows a family—mother architect, father wood‑manufacturer—who adopt a humanoid android resembling their late son, Kakeru, prompting questions about who “owns” the dead.
- Kore-eda says he was inspired by a Chinese business that “feeds information about people into a computer” to bring them “back to life,” linking his personal regrets about unsaid words to the film’s premise.
- The director notes cultural differences, stating that Western views of AI are dystopian while Eastern perspectives see co‑existence, and he frames the story as a metaphor for children outgrowing parents.
- The production auditioned 200 boys for the role of the android, and the child actor’s performance is described as “free‑soul” with moments when the android “switches off” like a rechargeable device.
- The family’s home is a dynamic piece of design, described as wooden architecture likened to a forest, which informs the film’s visual metaphor of “boxes.”
- Kore-eda reflects on the android’s duality, suggesting that mothers may see their child as a different creature, tying the film’s emotional core to broader questions of humanity and AI.
Why it matters: The film brings AI ethics into cinema, giving audiences a narrative lens on who controls digital likenesses of the deceased, while highlighting divergent East‑West cultural attitudes that may shape future tech policy and artistic representation; it also underscores creators’ personal stakes with regret and memory, potentially influencing how storytellers and tech firms address the moral implications of resurrecting the dead.
