[Source: AP]

In acclaimed Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s latest film, a grieving couple turns to technology to recreate what they have lost.

“Sheep in the Box,” opening in U.S. theaters Friday, centers on a married couple whose son has died.

To cope with their grief, they commission a humanoid made in his exact likeness.

The title refers to “The Little Prince,” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s children’s book, in which a sheep is imagined as being hidden inside a box. For Kore-eda, the reference suggests that some of the most valuable things in life may be intangible, sustained by connections that cannot be seen.

The film, a family drama set in the not-too-distant future, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this year.

“It explores how a couple tries to rework their relationship with their child, and so it’s not that different from the stories I’ve explored in my past works,” Kore-eda told The Associated Press.

Born in Tokyo in 1962, Kore-eda started directing documentaries after graduating from Waseda University. He generally writes, directs and edits his films, an enormous undertaking in filmmaking, but it gives him near-total control.

His 2013 feature “Like Father, Like Son,” a heartbreaking exploration of fatherhood centering on babies who get switched at birth, won the Jury Prize at Cannes.

His 2018 “Shoplifters,” which won the Palme d’Or and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, was about a poverty-stricken family that survives partly by shoplifting.

In 2019, he directed French actors Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche in “The Truth.” In the 2022 film “Broker,” he directed Korean actors, including Song Kang-ho, who won Best Actor at Cannes.

Despite the demands of his productions, Kore-eda is known for trying to ensure that everyone enjoys working on his sets. He has also been a longtime and vocal opponent of harassment in the industry.

That approach stands out in an industry known for punishing hours and low pay, particularly in Japan. Anyone found harassing another person while working on one of Kore-eda’s films is immediately removed from the production.