Film Forum

Oscar®-winning auteur Hamaguchi (DRIVE MY CAR) sets his newest feature in an idyllic forest community outside Tokyo, where corporate invaders have bought choice land for a glamping site. Taciturn widower Takumi gathers wild wasabi and stream water for a local udon restaurant, splits wood with Zen precision, and occasionally forgets to fetch his 8 year-old daughter from school — while shots of deer hunters echo ominously through nearby fields. He and two company reps become comically unlikely bedfellows, and together they ultimately confront the mysterious, unsettling forces of both nature and human nature.  A mesmerizing immersion in Hamaguchi’s enigmatic artistry, with long tracking shots fixed skyward and a lush, hypnotic score as variable and complex as the characters themselves.  

Presented with support from the Reginald S. Reinhardt, Ling-Makekau Fund for Asia-Pacific Films

2023     106 MIN.     JAPAN     SIDESHOW / JANUS   IN JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Reviews

“CRITIC’S PICK. Soulful…Lapidary, word by word, detail by detail, juxtaposition by juxtaposition, EVIL DOES NOT EXIST beautifully deepens…I have watched [it] twice, and each time the stealthy power of Hamaguchi’s filmmaking has startled me anew.”
– Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

“MASTERFUL. Another cinematic triumph [for Hamaguchi]. A story of man versus nature that will leave you stunned and shaken…Generates simmering anxiety from the clash between modernity and nature…invites contemplation and, in return, delivers lyrical beauty, haunting mystery, and more than a bit of unexpected terror.”
– Nick Schager, Daily Beast
Read the full review here.

“Grade: A. ONE FOR THE AGES. In that dichotomy of patience and alarm lies the genius of Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s follow-up to the Oscar-winning DRIVE MY CAR. It’s a fable, like a simple game of good versus evil, that unspools with such density of narrative that it takes the breath away.”
– Murtada Elfadl, A/V Club

“HYPNOTIC. A true work of visual and audio poetry.”
– Elena Lazic, Sight and Sound

“Spectacular… provocatively considers the kind of responsibility we bear toward our families, our friends, and even strangers.”
– Alissa Wilkinson, Vox

“A gorgeous eco-fable that ends with a mythical mic drop. Japanese superstar-in-the-making Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s latest film is a touching ecological parable full of little feints and narrative red herrings…its hymn to community and the environment [is] quietly spellbinding and a bit reminiscent of Akira Kurosawa’s own moving eco fable, DERSU UZALA.”
– Phil de Semlyen, Time Out