is an upcoming Japanese drama film written and directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi.

The film was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 80th Venice International Film Festival, where it is set to premiere on 4 September 2023.

Plot
"Deep in the forest of the small rural village Harasawa, single parent Takumi lives with his young daughter, Hana, and takes care of odd jobs for locals, chopping wood and hauling pristine well water. The overpowering serenity of this untouched land of mountains and lakes, where deer peacefully roam free, is about to be disrupted by the imminent arrival of the Tokyo company Playmode, which is ready to start construction on a glamping site for city tourists—a plan, which Takumi and his neighbors discover, that will have dire consequences for the ecological health and cleanliness of their community."

Cast
 Hitoshi Omika
 Ryo Nishikawa
 Ryuji Kosaka
 Ayaka Shibutani
 Hazuki Kikuchi
 Hiroyuki Miura

Production 
Hamaguchi started working on the film in January 2023, with the intention of it being a 30-minute short film accompanied by a live score composed by Eiko Ishibashi, the production ended up getting lengthier as the shoot went along and Hamaguchi decided to turn it into a feature film with dialogue.

In July 2023, it was announced that Hamaguchi had two new films scheduled for world premieres at the fall festival season: Evil Does Not Exist and Gift; with the latter being the originally-intended version without dialogue with Ishibashi's live score and which will have its world premiere at Belgium's Film Fest Ghent in October 2023.

Release
Evil Does Not Exist was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 80th Venice International Film Festival, where it will have its world premiere on 4 September 2023. Following screenings at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and 2023 New York Film Festival.

Awards and nominations

References

External links
 

Upcoming films
2023 films
2023 drama films
2020s Japanese films
2020s Japanese-language films
Japanese drama films
Films directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi