★★★★

After his critically-acclaimed and Oscar-winning Drive My Car, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi opts to go far more somber and topical with his 11th feature, Evil Does Not Exist. Telling the story of a widower, Takumi (Hitoshi Omika), living a relatively isolated life with his young daughter Hana (Ryo Nishikawa). When a developer wants to build a glamping site and disrupt the village they reside in, Takumi and other residents attempt to take a stand against the planned build.

With powerful cinematography, laid down alongside a contemplative and intense score, Hamaguchi’s film explores themes around the environment, personal space, and trust in others and trust placed in the institutions that are supposed to aid, protect, and assist people. This can be a challenging film to engage with at first, but the deeper into the story Hamaguchi takes us, the more unnerving, upsetting and impactful his storytelling becomes.

Evil Does Not Exist was screened as part of the 50th Seattle International Film Festival.