In a near-future Japan that looks very much like the present, the government has unveiled a modest, monstrous proposal to address the country’s demographic crisis. Under the innocuously named Plan 75, senior citizens are gently encouraged to sign up for a voluntary euthanasia program.
It’s all awfully easy. There are sales representatives to guide people through the process and a call center to provide emotional support. Those who enroll are given a ¥100,000 handout — so they can make the most of their final weeks of life — and can opt for mass cremation to avoid the expense of a funeral.
Chie Hayakawa’s “Plan 75” puts a realistic spin on the dystopian scenarios of 1970s sci-fi movies like “Soylent Green” and “Logan’s Run,” and is all the more chilling for it. When the director first depicted the conceit in a short film that featured in the 2018 speculative anthology “Ten Years Japan,” it made the omnibus’s other segments look benign in comparison.
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