The contemporary cinematic landscape is increasingly defined by the singular voice of Ryûsuke Hamaguchi. Following the global success of his Oscar-winning Drive My Car (2021), the director has ventured away from his familiar urban settings to deliver Evil Does Not Exist (Aku wa sonzai shinai, 2023), a powerful ecological fable that shifts from the modest realities of village life into the realm of the mysterious.
Set in the village of Mizubiki near Tokyo, the narrative follows Takumi (Hitoshi Omika) and his daughter, Hana (Ryo Nishikawa). The pair lives in quiet harmony with their environment, echoing the traditions of those who came before them. This delicate ecological balance is threatened by the proposed construction of a "glamping" site - a high-comfort escape for city dwellers that risks profoundly altering the local landscape and the lives of the villagers.
Hamaguchi, born in 1978 and a former student of director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, has built a reputation for stories moved by the "whirlwind of feelings" and the inherent instability of reality. While his previous works often focused on intimate, city-bound human interactions, Evil Does Not Exist draws its unpredictability from the natural world. As noted in Cahiers du cinéma, the film’s surprises emerge not from the individuals themselves, but from a force beyond them - the world of the non-human.
The film, which runs 106 minutes, will be screened on Tuesday, 28 April 2026 at 7:00 PM at the Théâtre des Variétés. Presented in its original Japanese version with French subtitles, the program - organized by the Institut Audiovisuel de Monaco - includes a short film and a selection from the Institut's own collections. It remains a stark exploration of the "inevitable incompleteness of perception" and the weight of the unspoken.
Photo credit: Institut Audiovisuel de Monaco