We are Little Zombies hits streaming this week after premiering at Sundance, thanks to Oscilloscope films. Makoto Nagahisa’s stunning debut answers the question I never thought to ask, but I am glad I now know the answer to: What if Sion Sono directed Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World? The film stars Kito Ninomoya as the 13-year-old Hikari, who always had his head buried in his favorite retro handheld. But after losing both of his parents in a freak auto accident, the 8-bit and real world collide when Hikari by chance meets three other recently orphaned teens at a Tokyo crematorium. All four fit a basic movie teen archetype— the tough poor kid — Takemura (Mondo Okumura), the self-proclaimed “femme fatale” — Ikuko (Sena Nakajima), the nerd — Hikari, and the fat kid Ishi (Satoshi Mizuno). The foursome decide to form a party, RPG-style if you will, as they travel to each of their previous homes retrieving items that will aid them in their “quest.”
Like a video game, the film is broken up into a series of “Stages,” the first half is basically a coming to terms, as we get the back story on each teen confronting the death of their parents to gain an item. Fueled by a chiptune soundtrack, the film swaps between live action and 8-Bit style to mimic Hikari’s ever present handheld as the stages are completed one by one. After the items have been collected, the children, now homeless, form a band and are thrust into stardom thanks to a viral video and a super catchy song. The teens of course become a smash, but they then struggle with fame and these new versions of themselves, on top of dealing with the still present grief. Like all great Japanese films and animes, Zombie gets surreal and dips into some deep existentialism as it goes full on Evangelion for its final moments. It’s a testament to Makoto Nagahisa’s ability that the film can make these rather hefty themes as fluid as they become.
We are Little Zombies is a stunning piece of psychedelic pop-culture infused cinema, that operates not only as a great narrative, but a fascinating deep dive on modern death rituals in Japan. The Japanese peoples’ relationship between death and grief, is something that is very different culturally from how we deal and cope here in the West thanks to their lack of a Judeo-Christian foundation. It’s just another layer in this dense film to appreciate, as it manages to tackle so many themes and genres so perfectly in its own surreal way. In the COVID-19 dumping ground of film releases, We are Little Zombies is a hidden gem worth seeking out that delivers possibly everything you could want in a film as it tries to answer some of life’s unanswerable questions while entertaining the hell of you.
We Are Little Zombies hits virtual cinemas, live cinemas, and VOD July 10th, 2020, from Oscilloscope Laboratories. Watch here, supporting Austin Film Society.
