Its a compelling movie. Not a typical sci fi movie but deeply thoughtful and raise many questions

It's far too long and thinks itself a little too clever. It's an interesting sci-fi angle, and the ending was powerful enough. If the film has been edited more tightly and we'd gotten there more quickly, it would have resonated more strongly for me.

A wonderful film combine great acting, many genres and a killer visual and color use. The cast delivers in this odd art film and makes you believe aliens are real, and the complicated relationships and politics of humanity matter and apply to all those who think. It begs the question what is the value of a human, Incredible film making. The space between defines us.

Before We Vanish is a strange genre clash that isn't to all tastes. The overarcing plot is simple enough - three aliens take over human bodies as scouts for an imminent invasion - but from there the film gets tricky. The scouts learn about humanity by stealing concepts from individual people (as in, to learn about property rights, they'll yoink the whole concept of property rights out of your mind). The film also diverges into two distinct pathways; one is an alien that has taken over an unfaithful man and who explores the idea of a relationship with his wife with unexpected sincerity, the other is a more conventional invasion narrative where the other two aliens (more violent and sociopathic) recruit a beat reporter to undergo an oddly laid-back quest to get a signal out to the invading army, all while facing down Japan's version of the Men in Black. You with me so far? Well, you've got plenty of time to figure things out, because writer-director Kiyoshi Kurosawa (no relation) has no qualms about taking his time to get to a destination. He's also very free-form with tone, treating violence as a kind of comic relief at points but also trending towards more profound, apocalyptic sci-fi and dealing heavily with the concept of human identity (as seen through the lens of an extraterrestrial intelligence). It's a bit interesting and offbeat, particularly the thought of long-simmering marital tensions being solved by alien possession, but the ending is a bit of a sticking point for me, with aliens calling off the invasion because they apparently learned about love; kind of hokey, the sort of thing you'd expect in an under-10 Disney sci-fi rather than a genre-bender like this. Very lackluster effects aren't a big selling point either. Anyway it's got unique pieces and I can see genre fans and cult film buffs fawning over this one. (3/5)

This is a movie that improves with repeated viewings. Also, if you are watching it strictly for an exciting alien invasion story, I think you will be disappointed. This movie is basically a quirky fable about what it means to be human, as seen through the eyes of aliens. It is also a love story.

So boring, really annoying characters, terrible ending.

The cinematography seems simple but simplicity is impressive. A dish that is quite simple, fun, but rather difficult to understand. Before We Vanish is a spectacle that is so intriguing, full of drama, but a plot that tends to be in slow. In some scenes, there is an obvious plot hole and there is so much waste of times. For the rest, this is a horror, thriller, and drama movie. A film about understanding the nature of human complexity and what's actually missing.

It is unsettling to follow two characters trigger conceptual thoughts about the self to a confused character, when you know it will end in the theft of said concept from their mind. This is one of the most effective scenes from the movie âBefore we Vanishâ? by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. He manages to blend a down-to-earth narrative with an alien invasion exquisitely well, and explores how we define ourselves through themes and concepts. However, it lacks a bit in execution and falls a bit short of how far it could have taken itself. Thereâ(TM)s no doubt that there is enough of a baseline to create a more lengthy piece on what this type of invasion might look like, and though it may have ended up even more dystopian it likely would have been more satisfying. In terms of narrative strengths, this film carries compelling character dynamics and, aside from those, the second-most powerful attraction of this film is the theme of conceptual gain and loss. In what is most likely an attempt to narrow down the narrative focus within the confines of a movie, Kurosawa keeps two groups within an arm's length of each-other and contrasts the differences in theme between them through humour, warmth and a little bit of ambivalence following some of the more provocative moments of the movie. The visual language is simple but effective. It makes good use of a fairly pale color pallette and has a clear understanding of the concepts behind camera placement and technique. But if you go into this movie expecting a visual spectacle youâ(TM)ll be fairly disappointed. In the end, however, that would be counter intuitive to the overall movie language that flows throughout this film. At moments the cinematography attempts some shocking moments, but while it never really excels at shocking its audience it does a good job at creating highly uncomfortable scenarios by taking its time to expose the audience to philosophical scenarios. A striking to me was the one described in the beginning of this text, where the prolonged exposure to what the audience by then has come to recognize as a hostile act being acted out in a playful act, similar to how a cat can play with a mouse before devouring it. There isnâ(TM)t anything spectacular going on with the music or audio cues throughout the movie however, something that feels like it could have been considered for more subtle effects. But perhaps, much like an overt cinematography, it would have taken away some of the essence of the film in its way of narrowing its focus down on dialogue and philosophy, as is a common pillar in Japanese cinematography. Thinking, conceptualizing, communicating, these are aspects of humanity that can be very complex and the movie does a good job of grinding them down to more easily digestible and tangible pieces. It speaks clearly through its colorful cast, ambiguous alien mindsets and fairly straight-forward story beats. If youâ(TM)re on the lookout for something a bit out of the ordinary, but which wonâ(TM)t cause too much confusion, or if youâ(TM)re not too used to philosophical movie escapades, then this movie might be right up your alley. Itâ(TM)s a film which doesnâ(TM)t concern itself with too much melodramatic, but which speaks a language that can appeal to a larger group, perhaps a for families that want to engage in something other than the typical action film or comedy relief. And perhaps, it could also fit those who are looking to enjoy a chill philosophical derivative at the end of their day.

The movie starts strong with interesting characters being portrayed by talented actors, but ends with a whimper as it leans too heavily on a cliche and fails to really show the reasoning behind some of the characters choices, or the development and growth of others.

Good movie that remain intriguing till the very end

Alien invaders assume human bodies and try to understand human’s view on life and the world. More conceptual than action-packed. Interesting premise, but gets too repetitive. All the build up for a conclusion that has been staring us in the face since the ten-minute mark.