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Evil Does Not Exist

Play trailer 1:59 Poster for Evil Does Not Exist 2024 1h 46m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
91% Tomatometer 165 Reviews 83% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Verified Ratings
In the rural alpine hamlet of Mizubiki, not far from Tokyo, Takumi and his daughter, Hana, lead a modest life gathering water, wood, and wild wasabi for the local udon restaurant. Increasingly, the townsfolk become aware of a talent agency's plan to build an opulent glamping site nearby, offering city residents a comfortable "escape" to the snowy wilderness. When two company representatives arrive and ask for local guidance, Takumi becomes conflicted in his involvement, as it becomes clear that the project will have a pernicious impact on the community. Ryusuke Hamaguchi's follow up to his Academy Award®-winning DRIVE MY CAR is a foreboding fable on humanity's mysterious, mystical relationship with nature. As sinister gunshots echo from the forest, both the locals and representatives confront their life choices and the haunting consequences they have.
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Evil Does Not Exist

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Critics Consensus

Evil Does Not Exist stands on the battle lines between modern civilization and the natural world, offering a perspective that's as quietly measured as it is entrancing.

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Critics Reviews

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Moira MacDonald Seattle Times May 22, 2024
3.5/4
It’s about how the indigo darkness of a forest at night becomes a blanket, and about how the arrival of strangers can change a place (or change the strangers), and about the idea of something precious being forever lost. Go to Full Review Justin Chang NPR May 14, 2024
As he's done before, Hamaguchi gives us characters who are too complicated and richly drawn to be reduced to any one type. Yet that doesn't explain how hauntingly different this movie feels from his other work. Go to Full Review Peter Rainer FilmWeek (LAist) May 13, 2024
It does reflect some of the struggles in modern Japan between rural and urban, but I thought it was a little bit too slow and not up to par. Go to Full Review Elissa Suh Screen Slate Aug 13, 2026
Though not insignificant work, it is less an intentional spurning of the audience than a wandering artistic exercise, the success of which depends greatly on whether you find the film’s closing moments of piercing obliquity enriching or diminishing. Go to Full Review Maxance Vincent Movies We Texted About Jan 6, 2026
3.5/5
The visual look, in particular, sees Hamaguchi at his most evocative, with images and transitions directly recalling Jacques Perconte’s Bois Des Montifaut, Forêt Des Bertranges. Go to Full Review Pieter-Jan Van Haecke Psychocinematography Nov 7, 2025
With Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Evil Does Not Exist offers a highly meditative exploration of the position of violence within the natural real and the human symbolic. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Michael Marchaino Jun 8, 2024 this movie touched me in many ways. LOVED THE STORYLINE AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE Plot LOVED THE ACTING PARTICULARLY THE YOUNG boy and his interaction with the corporate entity imposing the building lot clamping site and the environmental impact to the streams. hat ran. downhill See more Sue May 27, 2024 Soooo slow. And yet.sooo ambiguous See more Marsh May 26, 2024 Ryusuke did it again!! Really enjoyed this film as much as I did Drive My Car. The story, tempo, and cinematography were great! See more Pete D May 24, 2024 Though the film had some great moments other moments mDe the the film feel disjointed and were shot oddly. I think there are some cultural contexts that perhaps that I don't understand. See more Roy J May 22, 2024 Very slow start, but drama gets intriguing. Nice to see some corporate employees having empathy for the villagers and not just being greedy evil people. These characters wouldn't have existed in an American set movie. I liked it, but not sure I understood the ending. See more ALR May 19, 2024 Absolutely terrible movie See more Read all reviews
Evil Does Not Exist

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Cast & Crew

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Ryûsuke Hamaguchi

Director

Hitoshi Omika

Takumi

Ryo Nishikawa

Hana

Ryuji Kosaka

Takahashi

Ayaka Shibutani

Actor

Hazuki Kikuchi

Actor

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Evil Does Not Exist

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Evil Does Not Exist

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Movie Info

Synopsis In the rural alpine hamlet of Mizubiki, not far from Tokyo, Takumi and his daughter, Hana, lead a modest life gathering water, wood, and wild wasabi for the local udon restaurant. Increasingly, the townsfolk become aware of a talent agency's plan to build an opulent glamping site nearby, offering city residents a comfortable "escape" to the snowy wilderness. When two company representatives arrive and ask for local guidance, Takumi becomes conflicted in his involvement, as it becomes clear that the project will have a pernicious impact on the community. Ryusuke Hamaguchi's follow up to his Academy Award®-winning DRIVE MY CAR is a foreboding fable on humanity's mysterious, mystical relationship with nature. As sinister gunshots echo from the forest, both the locals and representatives confront their life choices and the haunting consequences they have.
Director
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Producer
Satoshi Takata
Screenwriter
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Distributor
Sideshow / Janus Films
Production Co
Fictive , NEOPA
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Japanese
Release Date (Theaters)
May 3, 2024, Limited
Box Office (Gross USA)
$829.6K
Runtime
1h 46m
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