by Mattie Lucas
Cinema from a Decidedly Queer Perspective
Evil Does Not Exist | 2024
There is something almost unspeakably beguiling about Ryūsuke Hamaguchi's Evil Does Not Exist. The filmmaker behind Drive My Car (a 3-hour meditation on loneliness and Chekov that was so stunning even the Academy couldn't help but nominate it for Best Picture) and Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy is no stranger to thoughtful and introspective dramas.
I've seen a lot of bad movies. Call it an occupational hazard, but I couldn't even guess how much bloated, bland, pretentious, and downright incompetent slop I've seen on screen. Yet, I can't remember the last time I saw a film so soulless and dispiriting as The Electric State - the latest "this can't possibly be real" Netflix mockbuster from Joe and Anthony Russo (Avengers: Endgame).