Deborah Ross

Deeply moving but bleak: Plan 75 reviewed

This speculative movie about a state-sponsored euthanasia programme in Japan is an exercise in restrained despair

A matter-of-factness infuses everything with a dispassionate coldness: Chieko Baisho as the main character Michi in Plan 75  
issue 13 May 2023

Plan 75 is a dystopian Japanese drama about a government-sponsored euthanasia programme introduced to address Japan’s ageing society. Aged 75 or over? Agree to die and we’ll give you $1,000 to spend as you like in your last days! With a collective funeral thrown in for free! Actually, it’s not sold aggressively like that, as this is an understated film. But, despite the hopeful ending, it is so sad and bleak that if you didn’t feel minded to take $1,000 before, you may feel like taking it afterwards. You could spend it on a spa break and a deluxe sushi platter, which is one of the options, if that takes your fancy.

Aged 75 or over? Agree to die and we’ll give you $1,000 to spend as you like in your last days!

The film is written and directed by Chie Hayakawa who was inspired – is that the right word? – by a mass killing in Japan in 2016 when a 26-year-old man broke into a care home, killed 19 residents, and injured a further 26, on the grounds that such people are a drain on society.

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