The concept of parallel universes is a fascinating one. What if there was another you out there, making the big bucks, fighting in a war or writing bad poetry? And what would happen if you and your alternate self were ever to meet up?

That's the premise behind "The Relative Worlds," the new CG anime film written and directed by Yuhei Sakuragi. Unfortunately, though, while the idea is a great one, the execution is a universe away.

The story begins with main character Shin (Yuki Kaji) as a young child. He is taking a walk with his mother when she suddenly collapses on the street, dead. Fast-forward a few years, and Shin is an (understandably) moody high school student in modern-day Tokyo where the kind of sudden unexplained deaths that killed his mother are on the rise.