HAPPYEND
In Cinemas September 19
DRAMA | JAPANESE | 113 min
Set in a dystopian near-future Tokyo, Neo Sora’s striking debut feature explores a group of teenagers rebelling against societal expectations.
The film offers a vivid coming-of-age portrait, following best friends Yuta and Kou as they confront a world where AI surveillance is tightening under the yoke of oppressive authoritarianism.
Infused with the raw energy and pulsing with a techno soundtrack, HAPPYEND is a hopeful, youthful vision of resistance and joy in the face of control.
DIRECTOR Neo Sora
CAST Hayato Kurihara, Yukito Hidaka, Yuta Hayashi, Shina Peng, ARAZI, Kilala Inori, PUSHIM, Ayumu Nakajima, Makiko Watanabe, Shiro Sano
COUNTRY OF PRODUCTION Japan
UK TRAILER COMING SOON
SCREENINGS + EVENTS
“The movie never loses sight of the personal, involving us from the start in the experiences of Yuta, Kou and their friends, while bringing a light yet lingering touch to larger fears affecting all of us.... A sure-footed movie that is set in the future but fully plugged into global political anxieties of the present.”
— The Hollywood Reporter
“Sora displays a subtly fervent faith in music as perhaps the ultimate expression of nascent individuality, and therefore, ever and eternally, a threat to regimes that rely on conformity and obedience.”
— Variety
“The best of the three is Neo Sora’s fiction feature debut, following quickly on the heels of his highly acclaimed doc about his father, “Ryuichi Sakamato: Opus.” He proves to have an incredibly confident eye, shooting his young performers in Tokyo against a backdrop of concrete roads and buildings in a manner that’s both mesmerizing and slightly terrifying.”
— RogerEbert.com
“A crisp and understated piece, with Bill Kirstein’s cinematography making the most of nocturnal cityscapes and of sterile empty spaces…. A gentle, piano-based score by Lia Ouyang Rusli carries its own echoes of Sakamoto stateliness.”
— Screen Daily
FESTIVALS + AWARDS
BFI London Film Festival
Official Selection
Venice Film Festival
Official Selection
Toronto Film Festival
Official Selection
New York Film Festival
Official Selection
Göteborg Film Festival
Official Selection
Thessaloniki Film Festival
Official Selection
Asia Pacific Screen Awards
Winner: Young Cinema Award
Nominee: Best Film and Best Screenplay