In the rural alpine hamlet of Mizubiki, not far from Tokyo, Takumi and his daughter, Hana, lead a modest life gathering water, wood and wild wasabi for the local udon restaurant. Increasingly, the townsfolk become aware of a talent agency’s plan to build an opulent glamping site nearby, offering city residents a comfortable “escape” to the snowy wilderness. When two company representatives arrive and ask for local guidance, Takumi becomes conflicted in his involvement, as it becomes clear that the project will have a pernicious impact on the community. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s follow-up to his Academy Award®-winning DRIVE MY CAR is a foreboding fable on humanity’s mysterious, mystical relationship with nature. As sinister gunshots echo from the forest, both the locals and representatives confront their life choices and the haunting consequences they have.
“So restrained and exacting that its denouement is nothing less than earth-shattering… So carefully and empathetically constructed — even towards its ‘villains’ — that it feels miles away from didacticism, this shapeshifting ecological tale becomes a yearning rumination on the alienations of modern life.” —Xuanlin Tham, Little White Lies
“This icily unnerving enigma of a film from director Ryusuke Hamaguchi makes no pronouncements on evil one way or the other; it’s more concerned with how some actions can have disturbingly unpredictable consequences.” —Arjun Sajip, Empire Magazine
“EVIL DOES NOT EXIST provocatively considers the kind of responsibility we bear toward our families, our friends, and even strangers. Evil isn’t some disembodied thing, in Hamaguchi’s worldview: it’s something embodied by humans, who can choose whether they’ll fight it or just give in.” —Alissa Wilkinson, Vox