Popular reviews

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  Review by Aaron ★★★★ 2

  Scott Pilgrim Enters The Void

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  Review by davidehrlich ★★★½ 4

  The first words of Nagahisa Makoto’s “We Are Little Zombies” are spoken by a deadpan and disembodied 13-year-old Game Boy addict named Hikari (Ninomiya Keita) as he watches his parents waft out the smokestack of a Tokyo crematorium. “Today, Mommy turned to dust. So did Daddy. Dusty as parmesan on a plate of Bolognese.” A gleaming wad of spaghetti appears over the giant chimney as if Photoshopped into the sky. Hikari lost both members of his small family a few days earlier when they were killed in a bus crash during the “worst-named package tour of all time: Destination Happiness!” The short-sighted tween — whose emotionless vibe falls somewhere between Detective Conan and a serial killer — isn’t impressed by…

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  Review by sal ★★★★★ 11

  "We are zombies, but alive."

  In the third grade, I was placed in my elementary school's gifted program. Essentially, it was a program designed to pull all the "smartest kids" from each grade, and give them a class where they could learn more "advanced" education, that the rest of the class was deemed too unintelligent to learn. Being an elementary schooler, I obviously didn't think twice about this, but looking back, I find this idea of a "gifted" education pretty absurd. It's kind of insane to me that a group of child educators can look at a group of children not older than 10 years old, and think for a second that the best thing to do is to separate…

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  Review by benton tarantella 1

  “perfect movies don’t exist,” they say.

  “is that so?” i ask as i unsheathe my copy of makoto nagahisa’s we are little zombies. i hold the blu-ray up for all to see. “then how do you explain this?!”

  a collective gasp resounds from the crowd of disbelievers.

  “that’s what i thought.”

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  Review by Movie Diary ★★★½

  A quirky Japanese coming-of-age narrative filled with surreal imagery. "We are Little Zombies" follows the lives of four orphans who've each lost their parents abruptly. This dark comedy explores how kids deal with grief and parental neglect, presenting each character's journey as episodic chapters, with transitions from each chapter stylized like a video game level. While it occasionally meanders and could benefit from a shorter runtime, I still find it an enjoyable experience to watch.

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  Review by Ella Kemp ★★★½

  “Please cry. Please feel. Just kidding. All together now.”

  Batshit bonkers movie, a coming of age/a coming to terms with grief like nothing I’ve ever seen

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  Review by Amy ★★★★★

  Off first glance, this film might seem a little juvenile, but in truth We Are Little Zombies is an emotionally complex and moving story with lots of ground to stand on. For a debut feature, I am absolutely blown away by the crafting of this. The editing is reminiscent of Edgar Wright’s flashy and quick-witted style, with maximalist production design in part that reminded me of Sion Sono’s brighter works. The casually depressing screenwriting with such deep layers of nuance were similar to that of Shunji Iwai’s, with a final shot that pretty much replicates that of All About Lily Chou-Chou. Despite all this heaviness, the overwhelming theme of camaraderie and found family prevails along side the upbeat music and neons. The lyrics of the songs are actually quite weighty and sad, evoking a couple tears from me regardless of how poppy the tempo was. I really really loved this, and cannot recommend it enough!

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  Review by Ashlea💧🦎🐜 ★★★★★ 17

  "Life is like The Castle. I don't have a good feeling about it."

  Find a girl that will cry unexpectedly at the lyrics of We Are Little Zombies as performed the first time.

  And it isn't lost on me either that I missed this at MIFF 2019 due to being a single player.

  This film hurts a bunch if you know what it feels like to lose your emotion to harsh circumstances.

  It's an endlessly inventive film that therefore holds your attention.

  Hikari cut me the most.

  I like to imagine that this is the thought process that Kenzaburō Ōe and his wife went through while naming their son.

  I don't know if I can trust Makoto Nagahisa around my feelings again!

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  Review by Jules ✨ ★★★★½ 7

  This is the story of four unemotional people.

  2019 Ranked.

  Just like the quote said, We Are Little Zombies is the story of four emotionless orphan teens. It's about their life, their friendship and the band they start together.

  It is a nice story and a really innovative coming of age. We Are Little Zombies is extremely surreal, frenetic and fantastic. I was really enchanted by its satire and its sense of humor, the visuals are incredible as well; the colorful neon letters and the dark humor contrast the depressing parts. It is also extremely meta, which surprised me a lot. The experimental angles and cameras movements, the popping pictures between scenes, the punk and profligate style. Everything is so…

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  Review by AshCrow ★★★★

  Life is like a SHIT GAME!

  • Japanuary 2022 #20 🇯🇵

  Wenn der Kreativität scheinbar keine Grenzen gesetzt werden kommt wohl sowas hier dabei heraus. We Are Little Zombies ist trotz des Titels definitiv KEIN Zombiefilm, sondern ist am ehesten vergleichbar mit sowas wie Scott Pilgrim versus the World, nur eben mit jeder Menge Japanischer Craziness im 4-Spieler Multiplayer Modus. Verantwortlich für dieses wild/charmante 8-Bit-Chiptune-Super-Musical-RPG-Adventure-Movie ist der mit den Goldfischen im Pool, Makoto Nagahisa. Er hat schon mit seinem Kurzfilm bewiesen das er alles andere als konventionelle Filme macht. Sein erster Langfilm führt diese Tradition auf alle Fälle fort.

  Dabei steckt unter all der Knallbunten Optik und Retro 8-Bit Videogame Ästhetik auch in We Are Little Zombies eine ernsthafte Story…

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  Review by PlaguDocta ★★★★½

  In the year 20XX, the band We Are Little Zombies was created. Chiptune and keygen beats overload. A kick-ass band. Want to continue? What will we do when we're just living zombies? The catchiest soundtrack. Wonderful character and musical chemistry. Getting quest items. Dark thematic elements presented from your Famicom console. The dad boss fight. A rather unsatisfying ending for a stylized 8-bit journey, I get what it was trying to say but it doesn't work as well as it should. Dreamers who aren't stuck in the sadness of the Cell-Scape and can feel now, we wish you luck and 1-ups on the paths you choose.

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  Review by NoCopZone ★★★ 3

  A little too enamored with its own quirky gamer nihilism, all over the place and way too long, overflowing with ideas and flashes of brilliance throughout. I don't think I liked it much, but I will definitely check out whatever the director does next