Happyend

Best friends Yuta and Kou are about to graduate high school in a near-future Tokyo where the threat of a catastrophic earthquake pervades daily life. One night, they pull a consequential prank on their principal, which leads to a surveillance system being installed in the school. Between the oppressive security system and a darkening national political situation, Kou feels increasingly frustrated with the world while Yuta seems completely unaware. 

Finding an empathetic ear in a passionate student activist, Kou’s political consciousness blossoms. Assuming that Yuta would never understand his newfound interests, Kou begins to avoid his friend. For the first time in their lifelong friendship, the two are forced to confront differences that they never had expressed before.

This debut feature film from director Neo Sora — whose documentary Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus screened at Cornell Cinema in 2024 — is set in a near-future Tokyo but deeply rooted in present-day anxieties about environmental catastrophe and the rise of totalitarian regimes.

Part of our "Worth a Watch" series. In Japanese with English subtitles. Courtesy of Film Movement.