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Prolific Japanese filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Pulse) returned to Cannes with this genre-bending mashup, both a darkly comedic sci-fi and a slow-paced action spectacle.

Three aliens on a reconnaissance mission to Earth take over the bodies of human hosts to explore the world they’re about to invade. On the way they steal individual concepts from the minds of anyone who crosses their path, from work, to free will, to love, leaving behind them a trail of soulless bodies. In doing so they start to unwittingly define the essential aspects of what it means to be human. The film follows Narumi (Masami Nagasawa, I Wish), whose husband, Shinji (Ryuhei Matsuda), becomes one of the three hosts. As the invasion grows nearer, Narumi’s attempts to save humanity from extinction become increasingly entwined with Shinji’s decision on whether to save the humanity within himself.

Combining the best of Kurosawa’s genre stylings with his forays into dark family dramas, Before We Vanish sees the director delivering a twist on the classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers narrative by recontextualising it in a disconnected modern world. Presenting a unique vision to how invasions have been portrayed in popular culture in the past it asks the question, how much is humanity worth, if we’ve become too alienated to be able to recongnise the aliens among us?

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
• Optional English subtitles
• The Making Of Before We Vanish, an 53-minute featurette including on-set footage and interviews with cast and crew
• Inside The Story and Inside The Characters, two featurettes with cast and crew interviews
• Red carpet interviews from the Cannes Film Festival premiere
• Cast and crew Q&As from five screenings including the Japanese premiere
• Theatrical trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tommy Pocket

FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Neil Mitchell

Before We Vanish has really stuck with me since I saw it a few weeks ago. I had seen Cure and Pulse previously, their vagueness and inconsistency were interesting in the watching but, for me at least, not memorable. The difference in Vanish is the subtle love story of a wife emotionally estranged from a wandering husband, reconstructing that love with the alien who has taken over his body. This new creature captures human conceptions from others and slowly discovers their value leading to a poignant and meaningful conclusion.

I liked this a lot -- albeit not as much as Journey to the Shore (an immensely moving ghostly love story). (I thought there were a few confusing plot inconsistencies -- but these did not impair my overall appreciation of the film. I thought the cast was first rate.