Following Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s critically-acclaimed Drive My Car, the Japanese filmmaker is finally getting long-deserved recognition. That’s what winning multiple awards at Cannes and earning a pair of Oscar nominations will do. And now Hamaguchi seems poised for more accolades with Evil Does Not Exist, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Venice.
Starring Hitoshi Omika, Ryo Nishikawa, Ryuji Kosaka, Ayaka Shibutani, Hazuki Kikuchi, and Hiroyuki Miura, this modest story centers on a father and daughter living off the land in a village just outside of Tokyo. When a new camping development enters the planning stages, the city threatens to intrude on their lives.
There’s no firm release date yet, but the arrival of the trailer suggests an awards season arrival in the coming weeks.
Here’s the synopsis: Takumi and his daughter Hana live in Mizubiki Village, close to Tokyo. Like generations before them, they live a modest life according to the cycles and order of nature. One day, the village inhabitants become aware of a plan to build a glamping site near Takumi’s house, offering city residents a comfortable “escape” to nature. When two company representatives from Tokyo arrive in the village to hold a meeting, it becomes clear that the project will have a negative impact on the local water supply, causing unrest. The agency’s mismatched intentions endanger both the ecological balance of the plateau and their way of life, with an aftermath that affects Takumi’s life deeply.
