Evil Does Not Exist
Hamaguchi I & II
April 26 - 30, 2024
In his potent and foreboding new film, Oscar-winning director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car) reconstitutes the boundaries of the ecopolitical thriller with the tale of a serene rural village that’s about to be disrupted by the construction of a glamping site for Tokyo tourists.
Ends Thursday!
Deep in the forest of the small rural village Harasawa, single parent Takumi lives with his young daughter, Hana, and takes care of odd jobs for locals, chopping wood and hauling pristine well water. The overpowering serenity of this untouched land of mountains and lakes, where deer peacefully roam free, is about to be disrupted by the imminent arrival of the Tokyo company Playmode, which is ready to start construction on a glamping site for city tourists—a plan, which Takumi and his neighbors discover, that will have dire consequences for the ecological health and cleanliness of their community. The potent and foreboding new film from Oscar-winning director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car and Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, both NYFF59) is a haunting, entirely unexpected cinematic experience that reconstitutes the boundaries of the ecopolitical thriller. Intensified by a rapturous, ominous score by Eiko Ishibashi, this mesmeric journey diverges from country-vs-city themes to straddle the line between the earthy and the metaphysical. An NYFF61 Main Slate selection. A Sideshow/Janus Films release.
Recommended Film Comment reading:
- The Film Comment Podcast: Evil Does Not Exist (Toronto 2023)
- Cannes Interview: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi on Drive My Car (2021)
- Cannes Interview: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi on Asako I & II (2018)
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Critic's Pick! I have watched the film twice, and each time the stealthy power of Hamaguchi’s filmmaking has startled me anew.
—Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
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