Evil Does Not Exist

Play trailer

1:59

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.

Watch on Fandango

Stream Now

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.

Read Critics Reviews

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

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

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi

Director

Hitoshi Omika

Takumi

Ryo Nishikawa

Hana

Ryuji Kosaka

Takahashi

Ayaka Shibutani

Actor

Hazuki Kikuchi

Actor

Perfect Days

96%

93%

Perfect Days

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Perfect Days

Kokuho

95%

96%

Kokuho

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Kokuho

Left-Handed Girl

98%

83%

Left-Handed Girl

Watchlist

Little Women

95%

92%

Little Women

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Little Women

Love Life

87%

94%

Love Life

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Love Life

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Evil Does Not Exist: Trailer 1

1:59

Now Playing

View more videos

View more photos

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

Join The Newsletter

Join The Newsletter

Cookie Settings