Finding out Happyend is director/writer Neo Sora’s debut narrative feature film came as a genuine surprise, given how masterfully he moves through the plot and delivers a stunning film. Centered around a group of misfit high schoolers in Tokyo, particularly the two best friends Kou (Yukito Hidaka) and Yuta (Hayato Kurihara), we find them navigating the effects of political unrest and technology’s presence in Tokyo—all while graduation looms.
Although the group’s bond is close at the start, exploring the electronic underground and escaping the police as part of teenage rebellion, they soon start to splinter following the effects of a prank that the friend group pulls. After turning the principal’s sports car into an art display, the school’s establishment begins enforcing a facial recognition technology that deducts points for bad behavior, turning a typical skipped class or a smoking session into public humiliation on a giant screen.
Keeping in line with some of London Film Festival’s 2024 selections having a theme of surveillance, Sora offers commentary on the impact that this intense form of tracking can have on society—and the ways it can cause a divide in the youth’s thinking. This becomes most clear during a moment when the classmates are asked whether they think facial recognition tracking is beneficial or not, with some students believing it helps maintain order and control. Sure, it was intended as a form of punishment, given enough deductions earn you a call to the student’s parents. But this soon backfires, with the students bonding together to turn it into a game and a form of entertainment. Outside the school grounds, the tension builds with impending earthquakes and protesters flooding the streets against the Japanese government.
Kou, who is Korean and is witnessing the rise of a non-Japanese divide fueled by hatred, turns toward activism after conversations with his teacher and taking a romantic interest in his outspoken classmate. Meanwhile, Yuta leans into his love of music, taking a job at an instrument shop instead of being outwardly political. He finds a sense of comfort in the store’s owner and coworkers, building his community in the process. Despite this, he also understands the political impact taking place and ultimately takes the fall for Kou, knowing he’ll get off easier in terms of punishment than his longtime friend would. The tension and teenage heartbreak are propelled by an impeccable score courtesy of Lia Ouyang Rusli, providing probably the best music of 2024 or even the decade. Sora, the son of the late composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, previously crafted a documentary in his father’s honor. Because of this, Happyend delivers the high expectations that sonic scholars might be expecting, complementing the futuristic doom perfectly.
While this isn’t the first film about best friends going separate ways after high school graduation, it feels like one of the strongest. The last shot shows a clear divide between the two, heading in different directions on the subway platform as the camera pauses—allowing viewers to linger with the youthful heartbreak that Kou and Yuta feel knowing it is their final goodbye.
★★★★★
In UK and Irish Cinemas 19th September 2025 / Hayato Kurihara, Yukito Hidaka, Yuta Hayashi, Shina Peng, ARAZI, Kilala Inori / Dir: Neo Sora / Modern Films / 15
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