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Virtual Cinema: We Are Little Zombies

Four Japanese orphans form a rock band.
Wî â Ritoru Zonbîzu (original title)
(NR, 120 min.)

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When four young orphans--Hikari, Ikuko, Ishi, and Takemura--first meet, their parents' bodies are being turned into dust, like fine Parmesan atop a plate of spaghetti Bolognese, and yet none of them can shed a tear. They are like zombies; devoid of all emotion. With no family, no future, no dreams, and no way to move forward, the young teens decide that the first level of this new existence involves salvaging a gaming console, an old electric bass, and a charred wok from their former homes--just enough to start a band... and then conquer the world. Tragedy, comedy, music, social criticism, and teenage angst are all subsumed in this eccentric cinematic tsunami. [Rotten Tomatoes]

Starring: Makoto Nagahisa
Director: Makoto Nagahisa
Language: Japanese
Genre(s): Drama, Music

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"Explosively ingenious and energetic..."

— Jessica Kiang, Variety

"Exuberance and visual inventiveness seem to come to Nagahisa as naturally as breathing."

— Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter

"A visual funhouse, full of surrealistic images, lurid colors and lead by four cartoonishly very stoic leads."

— Monica Castillo, RogerEbert.com

"A rainbow-colored scream into the abyss, Nagahisa's story of a quartet of orphaned tweens who start a chiptune rock band is as rigorous in its exploration of grief as it is stylistically exuberant."

— Emily Yoshida, New York Magazine/Vulture