We Are Little Zombies

Released Jul 10, 2020

2h 0m

Drama

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55 Reviews

75%

Audience Score

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Four Japanese orphans form a rock band.

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Critics Consensus

We Are Little Zombies mixes the playful and the profane with a stylish and visually inventive look at death, abandonment, and the grieving process.

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Robbie Collin

Daily Telegraph (UK)

We Are Little Zombies' exploration of the mechanics of mourning, particularly the uneasy disjunct between inner and outer emotions, is layered and sincere.

Rated: 4/5

Jul 11, 2020

Full Review

David Ehrlich

indieWire

Whatever demented game its characters are playing, Nagahisa's live-action Twitch-fest is delightful for how it lets us watch along.

Rated: B+

Jul 11, 2020

Full Review

Richard Whittaker

Austin Chronicle

Nagahisa's script dares to embrace true nihilism: not selfishness, not posturing decadence, but the genuine commitment to your core that the meaningless of the world isn't a bug, it's a feature.

Rated: 4/5

Jul 11, 2020

Full Review

Cody Corrall

CINE-FILE

Makoto Nagaisa has certainly proved the value of his unique, albeit intrusive, voice in this feature-and dares to challenge the standards of film form and execution as we know it.

Jun 23, 2021

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Alix Turner

Ready Steady Cut

An extremely impressive first feature film from Makoto Nagahisa, a musical comic drama about navigating life out of grief, both deep and uplifting.

Rated: 4.5/5

Feb 10, 2021

Full Review

Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

The addled direction pours on gimmicky camerawork and editing, plus onscreen graphics, animation, videogame fillips, movie homages, et al. I found it exhausting and annoying.

Oct 12, 2020

Full Review

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nefasto r

Stylish and visually insane, and definitely not recommended. Shame for the over-complicated script: wasn't necessary.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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dave d

A unique film, 'We are Little Zombies' is a visual experience you'll have to see and perhaps see again. I found myself missing dialogue as I was so entranced by the visuals which had a distinct old school video game feel. The soundtrack to this film constantly made me smile, but also served as a distraction. It's a Japanese film and with it comes subtitles. This could be a tough watch if you're not into a lot of things going on. It's a spectacularly busy flick, but it's never uninteresting. Final Score: 7/10

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

ari v

The initial 35% or so is quite unusual and enjoyable. Then the 'enjoyable' begins to rapidly evaporate. Leaving only the 'unusual' behind. 2.24/5

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Four kids meet and become connected when their parents are being cremated. The film starts out with the stories of what happened to their parents. Unable to deal with the grief associated with their loss, the kids form a band, Little Zombies. This is a film that is hard to describe adequately. It is a coming of age story. It is a film about young kids trying to deal with their feelings in the face of significant loss. It is also one of those movies about kids who form a band, create tunes that you cannot shake from your head, and become famous. There are some wonderful things about the film. The filming and camerawork are very inventive – the photographer captures the kids in motion from different and unusual angles. The shifting camerawork keeps the film moving forward and fun. One of the kids serves as the narrator, and he ensures you are never very far from the core of the friends' feelings. The screenplay is very well done; on the surface, it is one of those kid's programs that preteens watch on TV. But the stories of the kids and how they deal with their emotions (or lack of) feel very real and have substantial depth. And, of course, that song that just sticks in your brain. Big thumbs up for me for a film that is inventive, thoughtful, and insightful and told completely through the eyes of the kids experiencing loss. I loved it.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

spencer p

Explosively weird, but also enjoyably so, We Are Little Zombies is a colorful smorgasbord of creative filmmaking, as well as an exploration of dark emotional themes that speaks not only to the relatable kids out there, but to anyone trying to listen to their adolescent children.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

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Makoto Nagahisa

Director

Keita Ninomiya

Hikari

Mondo Okumura

Takemura

Satoshi Mizuno

Ishi

Sena Nakajima

Ikuko

Eriko Hatsune

Actor

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We Are Little Zombies: Trailer 1

2:03

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Synopsis

Four Japanese orphans form a rock band.

Director: Makoto Nagahisa
Producer: Shigeto Arai, Anita Gou, Hajime Inoue, Takaaki Kabuto
Screenwriter: Makoto Nagahisa
Distributor: Oscilloscope Laboratories
Production Co: Robot Communications, Dentsu, Parco Co. Ltd., Nikkatsu, Sony Music Entertainment
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 10, 2020, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 10, 2020
Runtime: 2h 0m

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