Evil Does Not Exist Plot Summary
In Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist, jack-of-all trades Takumi (Hitoshi Omika) and his daughter Hana (Ryo Nishikawa) live in an idyllic village outside Tokyo. When developers make plans to build a glamping site there, Takumi and the villagers attempt to convince representatives Takahashi (Ryuji Kosaka) and Mayuzumi (Ayaka Shibutani) of the harm such developments would bring their ecosystem.
How does Evil Does Not Exist end?
At the end of Evil Does Not Exist, Hana goes missing, and the villagers split up to find her. Takumi and Takahashi eventually come upon Hana in the forest. She had tried approaching a young injured deer, but the mother deer attacked Hana, who now seems to be dead. When Takahashi tries to approach Hana’s body, Takumi attacks him, then goes to pick up his daughter’s body.
What does the ending of Evil Does Not Exist Mean?
I think Hamaguchi intentionally left the ending ambiguous, but there could be several takeaways.
Hana likely only wanted to help the injured deer when its mother attacked her out of her parental instinct. What Takumi did to Takahashi reflects the deer’s actions. When you think of it that way, it wasn’t an evil act from Takumi’s point of view, but an instinct born out of love for his child. However, to attack a person who is trying to help is an “evil” thing from our point of view, which perhaps goes to show that humans and nature can never truly harmonize.
It could also be that, in the moment Takumi sees the deer, he clocks the city man as the more immediate threat, despite the fact that he wants to help. Ignorance is dangerous in nature, regardless of one’s intentions, after all.
Let us know what you thought of Evil Does Not Exist’s ending in the comments below.
For more on Evil Does Not Exist, check out our interview with Ryûsuke Hamaguchi.
Read More: Evil Does Not Exist Movie Review