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. (The worst crime in Japan’s modern history, apparently.) We’ve always been led to believe that Asian communities look after and respect their old and maybe that was true once. But Japan is now the most rapidly ageing industrial society – 30 per cent of the population are 65 or older – and a dwindling army of younger people are expected to support them. The film doesn’t offer any solutions. It’s all premise, you could say, rather than argument, and on paper Plan 75 might sound just the ticket. But where might it lead to? Will Plan 75 become Plan 65? Might a culture destroy its own soul?
It’s set in the future but it’s not a futuristic future.
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