‘Evil Does Not Exist’: A Japanese Master Returns With Another Cinematic Triumph

Although its title sounds fit for a horror movie, Evil Does Not Exist (which hits theaters May 3) is far from a conventionally scary affair—which isn’t to say that, beneath its placid surface, it doesn’t thrum with unnerving tension.

Maintaining the slow, deliberate pace and studied formal devices (if not the lengthy runtime) of his Oscar-nominated 2021 gem Drive My Car, Japanese auteur Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s latest generates simmering anxiety from the clash between modernity and nature. Its tranquil poeticism infused with dissonant undercurrents that grow increasingly pronounced and disturbing as it ambles along its woodland path, it’s a masterful film that invites contemplation and, in return, delivers lyrical beauty, haunting mystery, and more than a bit of unexpected terror.

In the small rural enclave of Mizubiki, widower Takumi (Hitoshi Omika) works as a “jack of all trades” for his community. Introduced chainsawing and chopping firewood with quiet, methodical focus, Takumi lives in a cabin with his 8-year-old daughter Hana (Ryo Nishikawa), who attends a nearby daycare center.

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