Dir: Chie Hayakawa
Cast: Chieko Baishô, Hayato Isomura, Stefanie Arianne
113 mins

japanese with English subtitles

Writer-director Chie Hayakawa’s feature debut, Japan’s submission for this year’s Oscars, is set in a chilling, sci-fi tinged near future in which the country has gone to extreme lengths to manage its ageing population and consequent economic distress.

‘Plan 75’ is the Japanese government’s dystopian new programme, via which citizens aged 75+ (like Mishi, played by celebrated actress Chieko Baisho) are invited to be voluntarily euthanised to help counter the challenges of a super-aged society, receiving a small payment for their (self) sacrifice. To the corporatised powers that be, Plan 75 seems the preferable management solution – so much easier than burdening Japan’s financial and health and social care systems, after all. But there’s mission creep afoot, as within 10 years, we learn, people 65 and over will become eligible for the opportunity too…

Recalling films like Never Let Me Go and Children of Men in its uncanny grounding of a disquieting dystopian vision in an otherwise recognisable world, Plan 75 is both a provocative critique of a society so in thrall to market forces it loses its humanity, and a tender yet unsentimental character study.

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