Evil Does Not Exist (12A)

★★★★ Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s haunting eco-parable mesmerises and chills. The Oscar-nominated director returns with an eerie study of a community determined to resist the modern world – at any cost. ~ The Telegraph.

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From the director of the Oscar and BAFTA-winning "Drive My Car", this deeply affecting film by Ryusuke Hamaguchi won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, Best Film at the BFI London Film Festival and Best Film and Best Music at the 2024 Asian Film Awards.

Evil Does Not Exist follows Takumi and his daughter Hana who live in Mizubiki Village, close to Tokyo.

Like generations before them, they live a modest life according to the cycles and order of nature.

One day, the village inhabitants become aware of a plan to build a glamping site near Takumi’s house; offering city residents a comfortable ‘escape’ to nature.

When two company representatives from Tokyo arrive in the village to hold a meeting, it becomes clear that the project will have a negative impact on the local water supply and environment, causing unrest.

The agency’s mismatched intentions endanger both the ecological balance of the nature plateau and their way of life, with an aftermath that affects Takumi’s life deeply.

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★★★★✭ Hamaguchi's drama about a mountain village threatened by a new development is a haunting depiction of the gulf between capitalism and environmentalism. Hamaguchi is a master craftsperson, and this beautifully strange film leaves its mark. ~ Little White Lies.

★★★★ Cryptic and confounding, it will not leave your head. ~ Financial Times.

★★★★ ~ The Scotsman.

★★★★ ~ The Guardian.

★★★★ ~ Time Out.

★★★★ ~ Empire.