“Evil Does Not Exist” is the new film from the Oscar nominated screenwriter and director Ryusuke Hamaguchi.
Let’s find out some trivia and facts about the film.
- Evil Does Not Exist is a 2023 Japanese drama film
- It is written and directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi
- The film was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 80th Venice International Film Festival
- There it won the Grand Jury Prize and the FIPRESCI Award from the International Federation of Film Critics
- It was awarded Best Film at the 2023 BFI London Film Festival
- On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 93% rating
- Based on 75 critics’ reviews
- With an average rating of 7.7/10
- The website’s consensus reads: “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”
- Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 80 out of 100
- Based on 20 critics
- Indicating “generally favorable” reviews
- Hamaguchi started working on the film in January 2023
- With the intention of it being a 30-minute short film
- The short-film would be accompanied by a live score composed by Eiko Ishibashi
- The production ended up getting lengthier as the shoot went along
- Hamaguchi decided to turn it into a feature film with dialogue
- It was theatrically released in Japan on 26 April 2024, distributed by Incline
- It will be released in the UK & Ireland on 5 April 2024 by Modern Films
- And in the US on 3 May 2024 by Sideshow/Janus Films
- In Canada would be released on 10 May 2024 by Films We Like
- Hamaguchi was an alumnus of the University of Tokyo and the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music
- He started gaining attention in his home country with the graduate film Passion (2008)
- Hamaguchi first gained international recognition with the film Happy Hour (2015)
- And continued with Asako I & II (2018)
- In 2021, he released two films, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy and Drive My Car
- For the latter he received two Academy Awards nominations, for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay
- He is the third Japanese director to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Director
- Hamaguchi has referred to himself as “purely a cinephile” and “conventionally in love with Hollywood films”
- He has been influenced by the works of John Cassavetes
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