Description
In a Japanese city of the near future, reminiscent of Tokyo, there is a constant sense of seismic instability. Against a backdrop of earthquake warning signals and mounting tension, a group of teenage friends navigates their personal coming-of-age stories.
After the students play a prank on the principal, a system of total video surveillance is introduced at the school. It records and evaluates the students’ behavior, deducting points for even the slightest infractions.
Visually, Sora’s city of the future does not present a radically transformed technopolis in the spirit of classic science fiction, such as Los Angeles in *Blade Runner*. In Happyend, the city remains recognizable, close to today’s Tokyo: its architecture and everyday spaces are almost indistinguishable from reality.
Happyend is the first feature film by Neo Sora, an American director of Japanese descent. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2024.