Short-tempered loner Ukon (Takayuki Yamada of Netflix’s The Naked Director) is the troublemaking type that doesn’t fit into society, much to the exasperation of his salaryman brother Sakon (Takeru Satoh). Ukon and his only pal Ushiyama (comedian Yoshiyoshi Arakawa) sustain themselves by digging fruitlessly for gold in an abandoned mine while in the employ of a dodgy leftist-nationalist. One day, the two stumble on a mysterious old robot. With the semi-sentient robot around, the buddies’ fortunes appear to take a turn for the better, but then everything goes spectacularly wrong.

From Hazy Life to Linda, Linda, Linda, Yamashita Nobuhiro has been Japan’s king of indie slacker films. Now an established director, he has worked seamlessly with Yamada, Japan’s own version of Johnny Depp, in several sensationally popular comic TV mockumentary series, like Takayuki Yamada’s Cannes Film Festival. Based on Imashiro Takashi’s 90s cult manga, this deadpan low-tech sci-fi dramedy channels the pure-hearted camaraderie and contrarian spirit of its loser heroes into a wryly absurdist and wildly imaginative escapade that makes you ponder what people stand for in these crazy times.