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Before We Vanish
Movie

Before We Vanish

2017 • Unknown

Woke Score
2
out of 10

Plot

Narumi is on bad terms with her husband, Shinji, when, one day, Shinji goes missing. He comes back a couple of days later, but he seems like a totally different person, and he is now gentle and tender. He goes for a walk every day. Meanwhile, journalist Sakurai covers the story of a family that was brutally murdered, when an unexplained phenomenon takes place.

Overall Series Review

The film is a Japanese science-fiction drama that uses an alien invasion as a vehicle for philosophical inquiry into human nature. Three advance scouts possess human bodies, including a husband and a schoolgirl, and attempt to learn about Earth by psychically stealing abstract 'concepts' like 'family,' 'possession,' and 'love' from human guides and victims. The narrative primarily follows Narumi and her husband Shinji's body, whose alien occupant lacks emotion and human understanding, a contrast to the cheating, dysfunctional human Shinji she was initially married to. The plot explores how the loss of these core social concepts affects various characters, creating a quiet yet unsettling critique of modern society's foundational ideas. Ultimately, the story posits that an irrational element, particularly love, is the essential and defining human concept that the invaders struggle to comprehend, providing a defense against the alien threat.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics1/10

The film, being Japanese, focuses entirely on a conflict between aliens and humanity, specifically within Japanese society. The main characters are defined by their marital status, occupation, and role in the alien mission, not by immutable characteristics or racial hierarchy. There is no focus on 'whiteness,' systemic oppression, or forced diversity, as the narrative remains fixed on universal human concepts.

Oikophobia3/10

The narrative's critique is aimed at general human social concepts like 'possession,' 'work,' and 'family,' which the aliens target for removal, suggesting they may be problematic for the species. The aliens assume that wiping out humanity is a simple and beneficial act, implying a general species-level flaw. This is a philosophical self-critique of humanity's social constructs, not a focused hostility toward Western civilization, its ancestors, or a specific demonization of the Japanese home culture.

Feminism4/10

The female lead, Narumi, is an independent graphic designer who is initially frustrated by her toxic, cheating *human* husband. She finds a paradoxically gentler, more emotionally dependent companion in the alien-possessed version of her husband. While the narrative frames the human male as flawed and positions the female lead as the emotional core and 'guide,' it does not push a 'Girl Boss' trope, nor is there an explicit anti-natalist message. The focus is on the complex, unique bond of their evolving marriage.

LGBTQ+1/10

The core relationship examined in detail is a heterosexual marriage. The film is centered on the metaphysical concepts of 'love' and 'family' as traditional male-female pairings would understand them. There is no inclusion, centering, or lecturing on alternative sexualities, gender ideology, or the deconstruction of the nuclear family beyond the philosophical abstraction of the concept of 'family' being literally stolen from one character.

Anti-Theism2/10

The film operates in a secular space, exploring concepts like 'love,' 'freedom,' and 'work,' which are philosophical and social, not religious. There is no mention of religion, hostility toward Christianity, or the vilification of religious characters. The film elevates the irrationality of human love as a transcendent, saving force, which suggests a higher moral or emotional law, even in the absence of a religious one.