Evil Does Not Exist

Eight-year-old Hana and her elderly father Takumi live in a small town two hours from Tokyo. The local residents respect the nature they inhabit and try to maintain harmony and their place within its bosom. When a tourism company from the big city shows interested in setting up a trendy camping site there, the town's core is jolted. Ryosuke Hamaguchi has become known for his unique cinematic tone, a measured observation of his heroes that gradually seems to burn into their souls. After the Oscar-winning Drive My Car, Hamaguchi returns with a seemingly more reserved film; however, as a director, he is only getting better and succeeds within this quasi-ecological and authentic drama to thread a fair amount of irony and other emotions. "This is a movie that holds you tight in its grip right up to those jaw-dropping final moments," says the Hollywood Reporter, and concludes "it’s the work of a mature and enormously talented filmmaker not afraid to take chances".