Super LTD will be releasing Before We Vanish the twentieth film from acclaimed horror director Kiyoshi Kurosawa in U.S. cinemas on February 2nd. The director of perennial favorites like Cure and Pulse looked to reinvent the alien invasion movie as another opportunity to explore our humanity. A new trailer has been released and you will find that below.
Three aliens travel to Earth on a reconnaissance mission in preparation for a mass invasion. Having taken possession of human bodies, the visitors rob the hosts of their essence – good, evil, property, family, belonging – leaving only hollow shells, which are all but unrecognizable to their loved ones. Equally hilarious, thrilling, and profound, BEFORE WE VANISH reminds audiences of the continued strength of one of Japanese cinema's most unique auteurs – and the value of the human spirit.
As you can see the new trailer plays on a different wavelength than its Japanese predecessor, opting to focus more on the action and violence in the flick than the emotional and human moments.
Our own Ard Vijn caught Kurosawa's latest at Camera Japan in Amsterdam. Excerpts from his full review should bring expectations back down to the Earth. Still, it's Kurosawa! He is always worth checking out, no matter how you sell him.
An alien invasion film, made by Kurosawa Kiyoshi? That almost sounds too good to be true. And it is, kind-of. Yes, there is an alien invasion, but not surprisingly, Kurosawa is not much interested in displays of grand destruction, monsters and huge spaceships. Instead, the focus here is on what makes us, humans, what we are.Before We Vanish may start with a crass massacre, and has violence and jet-black humor peppered throughout its (redacted) running time, but Kurosawa's heart seems to be mostly with the more sedate central love story.
Before We Vanish stars Masami Nagasawa (Godzilla: Final Wars), Ryuhei Matsuda (The Raid 2), Mahiro Takasugi, Yuri Tsunematsu, and Hiroki Hasegawa (Shin Godzilla).