Keanu Reeves Is Heading to Feudal Japan in the Most Stunning Stop-Motion Film You’ve Never Heard Of

There are passion projects, and then there are the kinds of films that feel like they were pulled from a dream. ‘Hidari’ is firmly in the second category. Masashi Kawamura’s stop-motion samurai feature has been quietly building momentum since a proof-of-concept short captivated the internet, and now it has landed one of Hollywood’s most recognizable names in its lead role.

The feature is an expansion of Kawamura’s viral proof-of-concept short of the same name, which has racked up close to 5 million views on YouTube since its release in 2023. That short gave the world a glimpse of something genuinely unlike anything else in animation, with intricately crafted wooden characters brought to life through painstaking stop-motion work. It was enough to spark a full-scale feature film, and now that film has found its voice.

Keanu Reeves has signed on to lead the voice cast of ‘Hidari,’ with the announcement made at the Annecy Animation Showcase in Cannes. Reeves will voice the film’s protagonist, Jingoro Hidari, a near-mythic master carpenter from Japan’s Edo period. It is a role that seems tailor-made for an actor who has built an entire second career on playing quiet, grief-driven men who are extraordinarily dangerous when pushed to their limits.

The story at the heart of ‘Hidari’ is deeply compelling. The film follows Jingoro as he loses his father figure, his fiancée, and his right arm to a betrayal tied to the secret reconstruction of Edo Castle, then channels his grief into vengeance, wielding a series of mechanical prosthetic arms of his own design alongside his loyal animated wooden companion, the Sleeping Cat.

It is a narrative built on loss and reinvention, and one that Kawamura himself has drawn a direct parallel to another beloved franchise.

Speaking to Deadline, Kawamura acknowledged the story has a ‘John Wick’ feel to it, in that it centers around a lead character who turns grief into vengeance. Given that Reeves is one of the stars most associated with that franchise, the casting feels less like a coincidence and more like a perfect alignment of creative energies.

Reeves was enthusiastic in his own right. In an official statement, he said, “I’m thrilled by the vision behind ‘Hidari.’ From the proof of concept to the developed script, the team has created something truly extraordinary. It has all the makings of an exceptional film, one I’m excited to see and eager to be part of. I believe this project has the potential to bring something very special to audiences worldwide.”

Kawamura was equally moved by the collaboration. He said in a statement, “I’m super excited to be collaborating with Keanu. When someone with his experience and creative vision watches your proof of concept and says ‘I want to be part of this,’ it’s an incredible feeling. He’s not just lending his voice to ‘Hidari,’ he’s helping us shape and expand this world, and I can’t wait to see where we take it together.”

Masashi Kawamura is not a name many Western audiences will immediately recognize, but his resume suggests someone who has been operating at the highest creative levels for years. His career spans commercials, music videos, and television, and includes designing the dancing clones for Lady Gaga’s stage work and creating the largest pavilion at Osaka Expo 2025. His projects have earned a Cristal at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and an International Emmy Award nomination.

While ‘Hidari’ marks Kawamura’s first foray into stop-motion, he says he was “always looking for an opportunity” to explore the medium. The project is a co-production with serious infrastructure behind it. It is being produced by Noriko Matsumoto of Dwarf Studios, and is a co-production between Dwarf Studios, Tokyo-based creative agency Whatever, and animation house TECARAT, with financing coming from Questry Co.’s Tomonobu Ibe.

The film is expected to be completed sometime in 2029 with an estimated 90-minute runtime. That timeline reflects the enormous labor involved in stop-motion production, where every frame requires meticulous physical manipulation of handcrafted wooden puppets. The patience required to make such a film is, in many ways, perfectly suited to a story about a master craftsman.

For Reeves, ‘Hidari’ is another chapter in an already impressive run of voice work, following recent animated roles that have seen him broaden his creative range well beyond action cinema. The combination of his presence and Kawamura’s singular visual imagination makes this one of the most intriguing animated projects currently in development anywhere in the world.

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