In a near-future Japan, the Japanese government creates a program called "Plan 75" that offers free euthanasia services to all Japanese citizens 75 and older in order to deal with its rapidly aging population.
The film is based on a short film of the same title, also directed by Chie Hayakawa, that was released as part of the 2018 anthology film Ten Years Japan.[1][2]
Film distributor TBA Studios had acquired the theatrical distribution rights film in the Philippines, one of the co-producing countries for this film.[7]
Reception
Critical response
Plan 75 has an approval rating of 95% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 55 reviews, and an average rating of 7.4/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Sensitive and insightful, Plan 75 uses its sci-fi setting to explore our relationship with death -- and what it really means to live".[8]Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "generaly favorable reviews".[9]
Diego Semerene of Slant Magazine rated the film 3 stars out of 4 and wrote that "With stinging precision, Hayakawa Chie reveals a culture that seems almost mobilized to destroy its own soul."[10] Stephanie Bunbury of Deadline Hollywood wrote that "Stylistically, it looks a bit like a training film. What this means – the brilliance of this film – is that Hayakawa is able to make the idea of wiping out a generation seem drably normal within about quarter of an hour, something to ponder in itself."[11] Tim Grierson of Screen Daily wrote that the film "may seem like it’s about ageing, but more accurately it is about the importance of community".[12]
James Hadfield of The Japan Times rated the film 4 stars out of 5 and wrote that "as the film progresses, a sense of numb resignation sets in. But Hayakawa refuses to end on a resolutely downbeat note — and in its haunting closing shot, “Plan 75” achieves something close to an epiphany."[1] Clarence Tsui of the South China Morning Post also rated the film 4 stars out of 5 and wrote that "throughout the film, Hayakawa implies rather than explains, and this tactfulness instils Plan 75 with the power one expects of a bitter denunciation for our troubling times."[13] Jaden S. Thompson of The Harvard Crimson also rated the film 4 stars out of 5, writing that it "upholds the inherent value of human life with its introspective writing and performances."[14]
^Frater, Patrick; de la Fuente, Anna Marie; Keslassy, Elsa; Barraclough, Leo; Vivarelly, Nick; Schilling, Mark; Hopewell, John; Punter, Jennie; Ramachandran, Naman; Vourlias, Christopher (13 September 2022). "Oscars Race: Austria Enters 'Corsage' in International Film Contest". Variety. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
