In Hirokazu Kore-eda’s new film, a married couple who are grieving the death of their young son enroll in a robotics program that creates a lifelike humanoid based on the child. Multiple outlets describe the premise as a grief drama that centers on human-AI coexistence, using the couple’s attempt to live with their loss as the framework for exploring how technology may imitate or replace what is gone.
Both reviews situate the film in Kore-eda’s ongoing focus on emotional relationships, but they differ in how strongly they perceive the movie’s execution. One outlet characterizes the film as a riff on “A.I.”-style themes, but says it feels emotionally stilted and falls short of delivering the intended impact. The other describes the work as training a “tender gaze” on the ethical and personal questions raised by AI replicas, while noting the film seeks an emotional payoff.
Overall, the reviews agree the story follows the couple’s decision to adopt an AI version of their deceased son and use that setup to probe the boundaries between mourning, comfort, and technological substitution.
