The movie

After vanishing inexplicably, Shinji reappears. But his wife no longer recognises him. Once barely bearable, he now seems like a different person. More gentle than before, Shinji goes on walks every day and has deep conversations with strangers. In the meantime, a family is murdered in strange circumstances. A mood of gloom seems to spread in this small coastal town. As the characters look for the truth, they learn that their town may be the centre of an alien invasion. Adapted from a play, Before We Vanish could have just been a sad imitation of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Fortunately, Kurosawa Kiyoshi has many tricks up his sleeve. He unpredictably combines disaster tropes and an intimist approach to create an original, profound movie, punctuated with unexpectedly comical scenes. Taking cues from the French New Wage as well as the TV show The Leftovers, the result is one of the best sci fi allegories ever made.