Plan 75

''Plan 75'' is a 2022 drama film directed by Chie Hayakawa, starring Chieko Baisho, Hayato Isomura and Stefanie Arianne. It was selected as the Japanese entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards, but was not nominated.

Plot

In a near-future Japan, the Japanese government creates a program called "Plan 75" that offers free euthanasia services to all Japanese citizens 75 and older in order to deal with its rapidly aging population.

Cast

* Chieko Baisho as Michi Kakutani
* Hayato Isomura as Hiromu Okabe
* Stefanie Arianne as Maria
* Yuumi Kawai as Yōko Nariyama
* as Yukio Okabe
* as Ineko
* as Fujimaru
*
* as Michi's co-worker
* as Michi's co-worker

Production

The film is based on a short film of the same title, also directed by Chie Hayakawa, that was released as part of the 2018 anthology film ''Ten Years Japan''.

Release

The film premiered at the Un Certain Regard section of the 75th annual Cannes Film Festival on 20 May 2022. The film also won the Special Mention award in the Caméra d'Or competition. The film was released in Japan on 17 June. The film was selected as the Japanese entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards.

Film distributor TBA Studios had acquired the theatrical distribution rights film in the Philippines, one of the co-producing countries for this film.

Reception

Critical response

''Plan 75'' has an approval rating of 95% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 55 reviews, and an average rating of 7.4/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Sensitive and insightful, Plan 75 uses its sci-fi setting to explore our relationship with death -- and what it really means to live". Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Diego Semerene of ''Slant Magazine'' rated the film 3 stars out of 4 and wrote that "With stinging precision, Hayakawa Chie reveals a culture that seems almost mobilized to destroy its own soul." Stephanie Bunbury of ''Deadline Hollywood'' wrote that "Stylistically, it looks a bit like a training film. What this means – the brilliance of this film – is that Hayakawa is able to make the idea of wiping out a generation seem drably normal within about quarter of an hour, something to ponder in itself." Tim Grierson of ''Screen Daily'' wrote that the film "may seem like it’s about ageing, but more accurately it is about the importance of community".

James Hadfield of ''The Japan Times'' rated the film 4 stars out of 5 and wrote that "as the film progresses, a sense of numb resignation sets in. But Hayakawa refuses to end on a resolutely downbeat note — and in its haunting closing shot, “Plan 75” achieves something close to an epiphany." Clarence Tsui of the ''South China Morning Post'' also rated the film 4 stars out of 5 and wrote that "throughout the film, Hayakawa implies rather than explains, and this tactfulness instils Plan 75 with the power one expects of a bitter denunciation for our troubling times." Jaden S. Thompson of ''The Harvard Crimson'' also rated the film 4 stars out of 5, writing that it "upholds the inherent value of human life with its introspective writing and performances."

Accolades

See also

*Cinema of Japan
* List of submissions to the 95th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film
* List of Japanese submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

References

External links

*
*

When 75 is time do die
(article with a brief plot summary in the Guardian)

Plan 75: Hayakawa Chie’s Dark Visual Articulation Of The Crisis Of Japan’s Aging Society
(Asia Pacific Journal: Japan Focus)

{{Japanese submissions for the Academy Award
2022 films
2022 drama films
Japanese drama films
Philippine drama films
French drama films
2020s Japanese-language films
2020s Tagalog-language films
Films about old age
2020s Japanese films
2020s French films
Films set in Japan
Films about euthanasia