Sheep in the Box: Kore-eda’s new film about family, grief, and artificial intelligence

Questo articolo è disponibile anche in:

With Sheep in the Box, Hirokazu Kore-eda returns to the big screen with a profundly moving masterpiece that combines family drama and contemporary science fiction. Presented at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, the film tells the story of a couple who has experienced the loss of their son, Kakeru. After years of grief, Otone and Kensuke decide to welcome an android into their home  who is built to resemble their deceased child and even has his memories.

This decision results in a delicate, yet unsettling story in which the boundaries between memory, love, and technology become increasingly blurred. Kore-eda uses science fiction not to sensationalize the future, but to explore human emotions and the meaning of family bonds.

The relationship between family and technology at the heart of the film

One of the main themes of Sheep in the Box is the relationship between family and technology. The android created to replace the couple’s deceased son represents not merely an advanced machine, but also becomes a symbol of the human desire to hold on to those who are no longer with us.

In the film, technology enters the most intimate spaces of family life: the home, memories, and relationships. Kore-eda shows how artificial intelligence can become an emotional tool, capable of easing pain but also complicating the process of grieving.

Otone quickly becomes attached to the artificial presence of her son, while Kensuke feels uncomfortable with the arrangement. Their opposing reactions portray two different ways of coping with loss and raise an increasingly relevant question: Can a machine truly replace a human relationship?

The android does not erase the absence of their son but instead makes it constantly visible. Every gesture, every word, and every memory cause the protagonists to have to face the difficult challenge of accepting death. The film thus suggests that technology cannot eliminate human pain,ì but can only change the way it is experienced.

Through this dynamic, Sheep in the Box explores a very contemporary issue: the attempt to use AI to preserve emotions and relationships even after loved ones have died.

The film’s central question concerns the nature of emotions: What makes an emotional bond authentic? If a machine can imitate the memories, voice, and behavior of a loved one, can that relationship still be considered real?

The Japanese director deliberately leaves the question unanswered, focusing above all on human vulnerability. In this regard, Sheep in the Box is more about human beings than about technology itself.

A film that uses science fiction to speak about phenomena we face today

Kore-eda imagines a believable, realistic future in which technology does not invade the world in some spectacular fashion, but instead gradually enters people’s everyday lives. It is this normality that makes the film so powerful.

The family’s home becomes the symbolic setting for this transformation: a space where memory, affection, and the AI coexist continuously.

The film offers no definitive answers about the use of technology or AI, but invites viewers to reflect on the value of emotions and the difficulty of accepting absence. More than a futuristic story, Sheep in the Box is a universal reflection on family love and the human need to not ever lose the people we love.