Evil Does Not Exist: Movie Review

Japanese director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi follows up the award-winning Drive My Car with an entirely langorous entry that's less interested in a destination, and more about a journey.

Woodsman Takumi (a debuting Hitoshi Omika) enjoys his life in a small, quiet rural village away from Tokyo's hustle and bustle.

But when a PR company approaches the villagers to build a high-end glamping retreat complete with plans for plenty of visitors, the villagers begin to bristle.

If anyone were to tell you the tensest part of any film this year is a singular scene set with a PR company extolling the virtues and soliciting feedback, you may think you're going mad.

But this sequence alone in Hamaguchi's movie speaks volumes to the way ideas can change minds and how eloquence can overcome brutality and seemingly inexorable plans.

If anything, Evil Does Not Exist is a fascinating look at complicity, at how town vs village barriers rise up and how divisions emerge.

Yet with restrained actors, and a truly shocking end, Evil Does Not Exist may be one of the films that emerges from the festival as one of the most talked about.

This film is playing as part of the 2024 Whanau Marama New Zealand International Film Festival. For more details, visit nziff.co.nz