Film review: Evil Does Not Exist is environmental drama at its best

Evil Does Not Exist

• Evil Does Not Exist 
• ★★★★☆
• Cinema release

In 2021, the Japanese film Drive My Car won Best International Feature at the Oscars. 

Director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s latest film, Evil Does Not Exist (15a), didn’t reach the heights of its predecessor but it was lauded on the festival circuit and won a critics’ award at the 2024 Dublin International Film Festival.

Takumi (Hitoshi Omika) lives with his daughter Hana (Ryo Nishikawa) in an idyllic village outside Tokyo.

Takumi works on the land, chopping firewood and collecting river water for a local noodle restaurant owned by a city couple who moved for the purity of the water.

The beauty of the location draws investors who submit a planning application for a glamping site. They send Takahashi (Ryuji Kosaka) and Mayuzumi (Ayaka Shibutani) to allay the townsfolk’s fears. If anything, they make things worse. 

They say the site will operate sustainably. In reality, it will disturb the deer, pump sewage into the river, and be a fire hazard.

Takumi takes Takahashi and Mayuzumi to see the landscape. Its beauty changes their perspective, but will it be enough to stop the development?

With a strong ensemble cast comprising interesting characters and beautifully shot, this is an absorbing drama and a cautionary tale. 

The end is unexpected and divisive, but it will stay with you regardless of how you feel about the final scene.