Sheep in the Box
Neon | Release Date: TBA CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
57
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Time OutSophie Monks KaufmanMay 18, 2026
There is life in this film, even if it is buried under a very woolly coat. Read full review
50
VarietyOwen GleibermanMay 17, 2026
Kore-eda’s attitude toward what he’s showing us is so lackluster and noncommittal that it’s hard to know how to react to any of it. Read full review
67
The PlaylistChase HutchinsonMay 17, 2026
Even a lesser Kore-eda is still at least interesting, even frequently insightful, about the ways that we move through a world of pain and loss. It’s just a shame that, for a film that’s ultimately about the power of imagination and our ability to tell stories as a way of enduring, this one was unable to dream bigger. Read full review
70
Screen RantPatrice WitherspoonMay 17, 2026
A beautiful yet simple story about using AI to manage grief, Sheep in the Box hits all the right emotional notes. The script glides through all stages with realism and curiosity in a way that never judges its characters, no matter which side of the AI argument they sit on. Read full review
70
TheWrapZachary LeeMay 16, 2026
What [Kore-eda] offers is a new way to rethink holding our grief, and the end result is a slight and wistful poem of a movie. Read full review
60
Next Best PictureNadia DalimonteMay 16, 2026
There are luminous glimmers of promise scattered throughout “Sheep in the Box,” and each speaks to a filmmaker of immense creativity and thoughtful sensibilities—unfortunately, those glimmers amount to a disappointingly disorienting feature. Read full review
60
Screen DailyStaff (Not Credited)May 16, 2026
There’s plenty of food for thought here, but the script’s penchant for saccharine touches – one aided and abetted by a lilting string-led soundtrack that turns to treacle a little too often – undercuts the authority of the film’s philosophical musings. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyMay 16, 2026
The Japanese director has no shortage of ideas — chief among them the potential for advanced robotics to bring closure to the bereaved. But too few of those ideas yield satisfying conclusions, resulting in a drama that becomes treacly and insubstantial, reaching for a profundity that remains elusive. Read full review
67
IndieWireDavid EhrlichMay 16, 2026
Sheep in the Box is less concerned with feelings than it is with our impulse to elide them. Read full review
40
IONCINEMA.comNicholas BellMay 16, 2026
Frustratingly limited and unfortunately banal, it’s one of the prolific filmmaker’s most disappointing efforts to date and feels desperately in need of an updated operating system as regards its narrative reach. Read full review
50
AwardsWatchMartin TsaiMay 16, 2026
Sheep in the Box gestures toward grief, artificial consciousness, and emotional dependency without ever probing the psychic or societal consequences of any of them. Read full review
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