Evil Does Not Exist

About a remote community that butts heads with a company that wants to open a tourist destination, Evil Does Not Exist is an odd one. Director Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s pacing is deliberate, to put it mildly; while there is something oddly entrancing about the ultra-leisurely way in which the film unfolds, it also occasionally feels impenetrably slow. And speaking of impenetrable: the movie’s conclusion can charitably be called ambiguous, though I think it’s probably more accurate to call it baffling.

** out of ****