Hirokazu Kore-eda brought a near-future AI drama to Cannes and drew a warm reception for one of the festival’s closely watched premieres.

His new film, Sheep in the Box, marks the director’s 17th feature and shifts his gaze toward a world transformed by artificial intelligence. Reports indicate the story imagines a near future in which AI dominates virtually every aspect of daily life, pushing Kore-eda into territory that feels both speculative and uncomfortably close.

Kore-eda’s latest film does not chase spectacle first; it uses a near-future setting to press on a question already shaping the present: what happens when AI moves from tool to environment?

Key Facts

  • Sheep in the Box premiered at Cannes.
  • The film is directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda.
  • It is Kore-eda’s 17th feature.
  • The story envisions a near future dominated by artificial intelligence.

The Cannes response matters because Kore-eda arrives with a distinct reputation: he often grounds big ideas in intimate human stakes. That makes this premiere more than a routine festival debut. It signals how one of contemporary cinema’s most recognizable filmmakers approaches a subject that many artists now treat with urgency, caution, or both.

The film’s premise lands at a moment when AI has moved from industry buzzword to cultural fault line. Audiences no longer meet stories like this as distant thought experiments. They bring fresh anxieties about work, creativity, privacy, and control. In that context, a warm reception suggests the film connected not just as a concept, but as a piece of storytelling with emotional weight.

What comes next will determine whether Sheep in the Box becomes a major talking point beyond the Croisette. Festival momentum can shape critical conversation, distribution interest, and awards speculation, especially for a filmmaker with Kore-eda’s standing. More broadly, the premiere shows that cinema still has room to wrestle with AI not as abstraction, but as a force that could reorder ordinary life.