The film marks a departure for the Palme d’Or-winning director, who traded his signature realism for a near-future setting. Kore-eda consulted with robotics experts during the screenwriting process to ground the technology in plausibility. He learned that current hardware limitations regarding heat management make realistic humanoids unlikely, with experts suggesting biological cloning remains a more viable path than synthetic skin and metal.
Hirokazu Kore-eda explores the ethics of digital resurrection
A freak accident claims a young boy, leaving his parents to navigate the unthinkable. In Hirokazu Kore-eda’s new drama Sheep in the Box, the solution arrives through an AI company offering a robotic double indistinguishable from the child, forcing a confrontation with the nature of grief and loss.
Despite the high-concept premise, the narrative remains tethered to the intimate family dynamics that defined Shoplifters. The mechanical double serves as a mirror for the parents' internal struggle rather than a commentary on technological progress. By placing a cold, artificial construct at the center of a domestic tragedy, Kore-eda probes whether artificial companionship can ever heal the void left by a human life.
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