Evil Does Not Exist (2023)★ 7.1/10
Aku wa sonzai shinai
- Drama
Directed by: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Written by: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Eiko Ishibashi
Takumi and his daughter Hana live in Mizubiki Village near Tokyo. One day, the villagers learn about a plan to build a camping site near Takumi's house, offering a comfortable nature escape.
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Evil Does Not Exist: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi's Alternative Cinematic World
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0Cast & crew
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Awards · 0 wins, 1 nominations
See all ›- NomineeSan Sebastián International Film Festival 2024FIPRESCI Film of the Year · FIPRESCI Film of the Year
Reviews
P
Paulo35May 22, 2024
Paulo35May 22, 2024The audiovisual languages in this movie are seriously impressive. When the focus shifts to Tokyo, the city comes alive with noise and hustle. But when the scenes are set in the mountains and forests, it's all calm and quiet, and you can hear the characters breathe, the sound of snow, and even the mist. I know some people might overanalyze the movie because of its title, but honestly, it's already a beautiful story. I'd give it a solid 8.5 out of 10.
A
Amor agora!May 22, 2024
Amor agora!May 22, 2024In this movie, director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi switches up his style and explores social issues. The natural landscapes' visuals in the movie's first part are stunning, no doubt. However, it didn't quite hit the mark for me when it came to digging deeper into the issues, building up tension, and portraying different social groups. It's definitely a bold move for an author director who has already made a name for himself in his respective styles, but overall, it still left me a bit disappointed.
E
El_CineMay 22, 2024
El_CineMay 22, 2024This movie is a slow burn. The pace is really slow, and the story is pretty straightforward. The first half had me almost dozing off with those long emotional scenes and the slow storytelling. But things started to get interesting in the middle part. However, the ending caught me off guard, like, whoa! Even though the director tried to show the relationship between the male lead’s daughter and nature throughout the narration, the sudden change in pacing was still unexpected. I was left scratching my head, trying to understand why the director chose to do that.
C
Cat-dollobyMay 22, 2024
Cat-dollobyMay 22, 2024I gotta say, the movie title doesn't really match what actually happens in the film. The balance between the different characters wasn't well thought out. If evil supposedly doesn't exist, then the things causing all the trouble shouldn't even show up in the movie, not even in the conversations. But how they portray the dumb CEO and the weak manager kinda makes this movie feel more like an entertaining short film.
P
pixieneDecember 5, 2023
pixieneDecember 5, 2023The whole film feels like prose poetry, quiet and mysterious, fresh and calm like a river formed by melting icebergs. It also accurately grasps the subtleties of life, making people empathize with the film. Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s films always contain detailed observations of human emotions and relationships, and this time he perfectly interprets the profound connection between man and nature. He’s truly worthy of being a representative of the new generation of Japanese films.
T
theohoratioSeptember 25, 2023
theohoratioSeptember 25, 2023The camera language is great; the spacing is just right; the duration is concise and powerful; the metaphors and foreshadowing echo back and forth; the soundtrack is excellent; the lines are sharp and funny; the content is very relatable but provokes effective thought, and the ending pulls it off brilliantly. The ending is rather dumbfounding in the moment and strong in retrospect.
V
Victorino-UXÍOSeptember 25, 2023
Victorino-UXÍOSeptember 25, 2023A relatively loose work; perhaps because the music comes first, it's generally not the Ryusuke Hamaguchi I wanted to see. But in such a story about a small town and its environment, resistance is not the center of the narrative, and even the details are still related to "acting". Instead, more energy can be extracted from the "nature" felt so strongly in the film, which can then be gradually abstracted until the end.
T
Timeless Tales BWSeptember 25, 2023
Timeless Tales BWSeptember 25, 2023I don't think there's any need to delve into the meaning of the ending, it's basically a movie for Eiko Ishibashi's music video; the soundtrack has a strong presence, and the title only came to the director's mind while he was on a field trip in Nagano-ken. It's worth noting that Hamaguchi starts to pan the camera down when he begins to conceptualize his real life and progress from his previous petty nonsense.
T
troyd-3September 23, 2023
troyd-3September 23, 2023Ryûsuke Hamaguchi's tourism development around forest areas explores the possibility of striking a balance between urban and rural communities, between people and nature. While the structure of the movie turns to a more down-to-earth one, he explores a wider variety of audio-visual techniques. The editing is a bit rough, and the ending leaves a mystery, which may be related to another new movie in some way.
L
Let's Talk About...September 23, 2023
Let's Talk About...September 23, 2023Contains spoilers
Went into this movie with high expectations and it didn't fall short of them at all. Gosh, even with the transition shots without lines or characters, I didn't find it monotonous or boring just watching the images flow silently. The camera movements of picking up the daughter, carrying the daughter, throwing paper at a meeting, and several other things are considered to be a godsend. The title of the movie is the most direct commentary and supplement to the film - there is no evil, not even good, but only the natural state of man and nature, and the relationship between each other, which I like a lot. The ending was also very goosebump-inducing for me, and I felt like I saw shades of Tarkovsky. Showing an extreme level of progression in three years is really promising, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi. I wonder what he'll do next.
S
saNTOS_7September 23, 2023
saNTOS_7September 23, 2023Like a prose poem, quiet and mysterious. It’s not intended to tell a complete story, but rather to look at the states and reactions of the people who are in the midst of this series of changes as they occur. Seemingly simple, but also refusing to be read simply.
R
Remigio3September 23, 2023
Remigio3September 23, 2023Evil can come from an indifferent company leader, a hunter who shoots, or a father who feels threatened and whose child has been harmed. He sees the male employee's indifference to the land and the creatures living there, and takes out his frustration with the group on the male employee. And so, at the end of the forest where no one lives, evil exists, but evil doesn't exist.
