THE STORY – “Hey — what if I told you I am an alien?” In a small Japanese town, an ordinary boy’s quiet betrayal sets in motion something he will spend the rest of his life trying to forget.
THE CAST – Ryota Bando & Amane Okayama
THE TEAM – Kohei Kadowaki (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 117 Minutes
Ever since Alex Dudok de Wit joined the Director’s Fortnight as an animation consultant in 2024, the sidebar’s programming has seen significant improvements. By introducing medium-pushing talent to accredited guests on the Croisette, the sidebar has introduced the prolific work of Cristóbal León, Joaquín Cociña, Kōji Yamamura, Félix Dufour-Laperrière, Alex Boya, Elizabeth Hobbs, and Honami Yano to a global audience. Providing a platform for established animation talent, the Director’s Fortnight has greatly increased its enthusiasm for the medium, providing essential screening space and distribution opportunities for many underrepresented talents. While Thierry Frémaux will continue to toot his own horn by spreading the “Shrek” gospel in passing conversation with the trades, the animation selection of the Director’s Fortnight is a more accurate reflection of the current landscape of independent animation.
Out of the three animated features selected to screen at the Fortnight this year, Kohei Kadowaki’s directorial debut “We Are Aliens” sticks out from the crowd. While the prospect of a Quentin Dupieux animated romp is enticing, Kadowaki’s origins as a filmmaker are far more beguiling in contrast with the iconoclast’s established oeuvre. Having only directed music videos up until the recent premiere of “We Are Aliens”, Kadowaki emerged from this year’s sidebar as a true unknown talent. Best of all, his directorial debut is a refreshing take on a coming-of-age narrative. Centered around the rambunctious friendship between two school kids that quickly sours in the face of social performativity, the film asks existential questions on culpability and complacency.
Spanning a lifetime of guilt and self-destruction, Kadowaki effectively divides his films into two distinct halves. Divided into two perspectives that eventually coalesce in a mutually destructive climax, the film’s satisfying character study examines the paths by which the young men’s lives went awry. “We Are Aliens” moves at a brisk pace, employing an impressive rhythmic montage to accelerate the narrative. Introducing multiple narrative threads without bombarding the viewer with needless exposition, “We Are Aliens” traverses through the characters’ childhood into adulthood without skipping a beat. The efficient storytelling subsequently implements match-cutting to underline Kadowaki’s themes. The film’s incorporation of matching action intertwines the characters’ dissociative memories with their presential autonomy. The simple yet impactful editorial technique reminds its audience that the actions of our youth are ultimately inseparable from the consequences of the present.
The pastiche of “We Are Aliens” uses rotoscoping as its primary animation technique, creating a vibrant world that is photorealistic to a fault. The character design suffers from an uncanny resemblance to reality, while the character’s movement emulates the mechanics of live-action cinema. The rotoscope’s uncaniness works most effectively when it captures the hyperactive imagination of the adolescent perspectives, personifying their hallucinatory fears through brief reality detours. In sparse moments, Kadowaki cleverly breaks the consistency of his rotoscope. Through the manic aggression of his characters, their movement becomes less detailed and refined. The character’s erratic impulses are visually represented through these sudden aesthetic changes, allowing the film’s medium to immerse its audience viscerally. However, these kinetic moments are few and far between. For the most part, “We Are Aliens” sticks to its unattractive design with little deviation.
Despite its character design detracting from the film’s uninviting aesthetics, Kadowaki’s vision is completed by his intoxicating landscapes. The young director finds subtlety within his character’s atmospheric environments. From the gentle flow of water to the ferocity of rainfall, Kadowaki is passionate about his environmental worldbuilding, as the weather directly correlates with the characters’ state of mind. Especially when the film transitions into urban spaces, Kadowaki clearly wants the viewer to feel a sudden shift as the boys are forced to enter the adult world.
In its final moments, Kadowaki reminds his viewers that life moves on, whether we like it or not. Without indulging in tiresome tropes, “We Are Aliens” is sustained by its fresh narrative structure, which keeps audiences engaged as they witness the tragedy’s outcome. While the film’s character designs and incorporation of animation leave room for improvement, the captivating story will certainly please anime fans and scholars alike. Avoiding miserablist tropes as a means of eliciting emotional resonance, Kohei Kadowaki’s impressive debut feature is a decade-spanning plea for compassion.
