Evil Does Not Exist ending explained: A controversial conclusion beyond moral boundaries

Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s 2023 Japanese film Evil Does Not Exist features serene, out-of-a-fairytale scenery, dramatic tension, and a bitter end. Initially conceived as a 30-minute short film, it metamorphosed into a 317-minute feature that won Best Picture at the 17th Asian Film Awards and the Grand Jury Prize at the 80th Venice International Film Festival.

The story, which was scripted by Hamaguchi himself, begins quietly with single father and village handyman Takumi (played by Hitoshi Omika) and his young daughter Hana (played by Roy Nishikawa), who lives in an idyllic mountain village called Mizubiki. As a man who coexists with nature and lives off what nature can provide, he inspired his daughter to learn and follow his ways until a big-city company disrupted the peace.

The title itself is a bold statement to make, which doesn’t coincide with real experiences in the world. Interestingly, the events in the movie, in particular, given the choices of its characters and the harm they bring to other people, contradicts the Evil Does Not Exist statement.

Evil Does Not Exist cast (Image via Kristy Sparow/Getty Images)

Notably, for anyone familiar with Hamaguchi’s work, which includes the Oscar-nominated Drive My Car, he is no stranger to endings that demand further discussion. Viewers were left wondering what happened in the brief final act of Evil Does Not Exist and what the ending, which was morally ambiguous, was attempting to make viewers understand.

Disclaimer: This article contains significant spoilers for Evil Does Not Exist. Reader’s discretion is advised.

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Takumi is symbolically a “gutshot deer” in Evil Does Not Exist

To some degree, Takumi’s action in the final scene is a foreshadowing of a previous scene in the film, where he talked with the city visitors and told them that a deer is not inherently violent and doesn’t generally attack humans unless they or their offspring are harmed.

In the ending of Evil Does Not Exist, Takumi embodied the gutshot deer he was previously talking about, violent and dangerous to humans after what happened to Hana. The once quiet and stoic Takumi is metaphorically wounded after a mother deer attacked his daughter, as well as due to the imminent destruction of the village caused by the new real estate development project.

Adding to that was Takumi’s guilt for his shortcomings as a father. Early in the movie, it was depicted that while Takumi cared for his daughter, he was also sometimes unreliable. He did not always remember to pick up Hana from school, leading to the young girl walking in the woods alone.

Hitoshi Omika is Takumi in the film (Image via Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

As a result of all these factors combined, Takumi lashed out irrationally at Takahashi, a development project representative who, while not necessarily the source of all of his pain, was the closest target.

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Why would Takumi respond to grief by strangling a near stranger to death?

Like the gutshot deer who gets violent when provoked, Takumi’s sudden attack on Takahashi wasn’t unfounded. The act may have shocked the latter, or even some of the viewers, as Takumi was always depicted in the film as a generally polite man.

However, scenes throughout the film show Takahashi getting on Takumi's nerves as he continued to intrude on the latter's and the locals' lives. While Takumi was not overly nice and friendly to the outsiders, he was helpful towards Takahashi and Mayuzumi, another representative of the development project.

When Takumi requested both representatives to remain at the house towards the end of the movie, Mayuzumi obliged, while Takahashi continued to entice him with offers.

Later, when Takumi and Takahashi saw Hana's lying, dead body, Takahashi was quick to rush to the girl, which frustrated Takumi. Takahashi's outsider status riled up Takumi, who, as a father, wanted to be there for his daughter first.

With the ending, Hamaguchi attempted to convey that violence can be instinctual. Takumi may not have intended to hurt Takahashi, but his violent nature, which had been dormant, was forced to come out due to extreme circumstances.

A scene from Evil Does Not Exist trailer (1:45) (Image via Janus Films/ YouTube)

To put it simply, the gutshot deer was acting in accordance with its natural instincts. When backed into a corner, an animal or person will eventually lash out in response, and it’s not necessarily with conscious or explicable intention.

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Evil Does Not Exist’s final scene justifies the title

Despite the optimistic title, Evil Does Not Exist, and the serene landscape of the film, violence was present. But from a philosophical perspective, like Socrates’ belief in the nature of human evil, no one does something wrong voluntarily or knowingly. Instead, evil is the result of ignorance, not a deliberate plan to cause harm in equal measure.

While it doesn’t mean that no one ever commits an evil deed out of selfishness or hatred, those sources of evil action can be traced back to ignorance, which is foreshadowed in the film’s depiction of Hana and Takahashi.

For Hana, her ignorance came in the form of approaching a wounded deer. Although her action was a result of good intentions, her trying to inch close to a wounded deer to offer it comfort led to the rabid mother dear attacking her.

As for Takahashi, he tried to help Hana, perhaps driven by instinct as well, however, the father's utmost desire to protect himself, his daughter, and his town did not bode well for the former.

In the end, the movie’s final scenes justify its title. Be it the mother deer or Takumi, they are not evil. While their actions led to violence that the greater society would classify as morally evil, they were not driven by an evil motive but instead by natural instinct.

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Currently, Evil Does Not Exist is not available for streaming. However, it will soon be available on Apple TV.