Takumi and his daughter, Hana, live a modest life according to the cycles and order of nature, like generations before them. When two representatives of a glamping company hold a meeting to inform the villagers of their plan to set up a camping site in Mizubiki, it soon becomes clear that the project will not only harm the local water supply, but also the locals’ way of life.

Evil Does Not Exist is a poignant eco-fable that shows the repercussions on the daily lives of the locals of a fictional Japanese village, when urban ambitions clash with nature.

Evil Does Not Exist was born from a collaboration between musician Eiko Ishibashi and filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi (who previously worked together on the critically acclaimed Drive My Car). As Hamaguchi was originally tasked with creating footage to pair with Ishibashi’s live performance which became the silent film Gift (2023), this feature film, which was a furthering of that story, feels like the music is just as important to the storytelling as the cinematography and the script.