This film opens on Friday May 12th 2023. Tickets will go on sale on Monday, May 8th.

Chie Hayakawa’s debut feature has its origins in Ten Years Japan (2018), an anthology film co-produced by Hirokazu Kore-eda that speculated on the development of Japanese society over the following decade. Her provocative premise sees the Japanese government institute a scheme of voluntary euthanasia for those over the age of 75 to restore balance to a state finding itself overburdened by the costs, financial and otherwise, of a largely elderly population. Following 78-year-old Michi (Chieko Baisho) as she considers her narrowing options in this brave new world, the film’s quiet, understated approach to the ramifications of such a policy allows it to explore ideas of mortality, loneliness, and the casual indifference with which the elderly can be treated by people and discarded by society.

Notes by Kevin Coyne.