“Happyend,” Neo Sora‘s sophisticated Japanese drama about teenagers fighting against techno-fascism in a not-too-far-from-our-own dystopian world, has found its own happy end.
Metrograph Pictures was originally meant to release the film, a 2024 Venice premiere that IndieWire raved about, until the company paused distribution operations as IndieWire exclusively reported last week. Metrograph reverted distribution rights back to “Happyend’s” original sales company, Magnify, and now, Film Movement has picked up the film for release starting September 12. IndieWire also debuts the exclusive trailer for the film below.
Here’s the synopsis: “In a near-future Tokyo where the threat of a catastrophic earthquake pervades daily life, two rabble-rousing best friends are about to graduate high school. One night, they pull a consequential prank on their Principal, which leads to a surveillance system being installed in their school. Stuck between the oppressive security system and a darkening national political situation, the two respond in contrasting ways, leading them to confront differences they never had to face before.”
Starring Kurihara Hayato, Hidaka Yukito, Ayumu Nakajima, Makiko Watanabe, and Shirō Sano, “Happyend” premiered in the Orizzonti section at Venice last year before playing festivals including London, Marrakech, and New York. Film Movement this year also releases another Asian title centered around surveillance, “Stranger Eyes” from Singapore, which also played Venice.
“Happyend” features cinematography by Bill Kirstein (who, in a total change of pace, also shot the “Mean Girls” musical revamp from last year) and music by Lia Ouyang Rusli (composer behind this year’s A24 hit “Sorry, Baby”). Writer/director Sora is the son of late, great Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. He directed the 2023 documentary about his father, “Opus,” and “Happyend” is his first narrative feature.
More on “Happyend” from David Ehrlich’s 2024 review: “This is a frustrated portrait by a self-described leftist who isn’t shy about his misgivings with techno-fascism (especially in a country that’s become synonymous with the neon dream of a better future), but Sora is far too loving to let anger guide his hand.”
Film Movement opens “Happyend” in select theaters on September 12. Watch the trailer below.
