Plan 75 (2022)
(Chie Hayakawa, Japan 2022, 113 min., DCP, Japanese w/English Subtitles)
Set in a potential near future, Japan’s government realizes that its rapidly-aging population is a growing problem and ratifies a striking solution: Plan 75. The plan offers all residents seventy-five and older free euthanasia and end-of-life planning along with a financial incentive. First-time feature director Chie Hayakawa explores the bureaucracy and consequences of this plan from several perspectives. Michi (Japanese legend Chieko Baishô) is an older woman who is losing her ability to make a living and befriends one of the Plan 75 telemarketers. Hiromu (Hayato Isamura) is a young man working within the Plan 75 system when his Uncle Yukio (Hisako Ôkata) shows up at his desk on his seventy-fifth birthday. Maria (Stefanie Arianne) is a Filipino caregiver who joins the Plan 75 team for higher wages, ill-prepared for the situations she will encounter. A devastating and thoughtful film, Plan 75 tackles issues of life and death, the thin line between them, and what matters most.