Mamoru Oshii has easily outdone himself with Ghost in the Shell: Innocence, a powerful sequel rooted in the dystopian future envisioned by Masamune Shirow. That’s saying something, as the original reintroduced the world to anime as high art almost a decade ago.

Nearly every frame of this new movie is jaw-droppingly beautiful, and the integration of traditionally animated characters and complex 3D environments is nearly perfect. But this movie isn’t just a pretty face: the philosophical quandaries and psychological acrobatics come in a constant stream of words and symbols. The root of all this moral confusion will be familiar to anyone familiar with master Shirow or the cyberpunk genre: the blurred line between humanity and artificial life.

Simply put, if you ever want to call yourself a fan of anime, science fiction, or film noir, you must repeatedly watch this film, and praise it to anyone that will listen.