Im pretty disappointed of the movie. It tell something very superficial and meaningless. The story start pretty well: we learn about the plan 75 and the purpose for it: reduce economical problem due to aging and old people. It talk about loneliness too. We have also the biggest revelation, in my opinion, of the movie near the end: the employees who work for plan 75 need to stay with the old people but we will learn later that their real job is to convince the old people to kill themself by euthanasia. I really felt during the whole movie to follow people at work and it really bored me: the movie lack of storytelling in some shots and lack of purpose. The movie show also the difficulties about old people to find a job and to find someone and how all this lead to more loneliness. It have some drama but really the shots was uninteresting at all and just show how society act in a fiction story but thats was not enough in my opinion: they could talk about many things and many problems and take positions on some unfair society that we live on. But in my opinion the movie just lack of purpose, direction and storytelling. I was pretty disappointed and the rythm is really slow: they show everything: the most meaningless things to something more dramatic or a desperate situation: but clearly it lack of intentions and we can feel in the whole movie the problem of the rythm and to tell things. I dont know if its because its a japanese movie and the cinema there have some differents habits and difrerent ways to tell a story but in general the movie tell something simple in a complex manner but the message its the same and we can understand it before any interest to watch until the end.

Plan 75 presents an all-too-real future for Japan's senior citizens.

In simple terms, the Japanese government proposes a euthanasia plan for seniors who are 75 or older. They are gifted with 100,000 yen to spend as they like and can opt to be cremated and have their ashes mingled with the ashes of other deceased citizens. The "options," such as they are, are presented by a handsome, cheerful salesman (an outstanding Hayato Isomura),hired obviously to encourage seniors to apply right away before they change their minds. But things almost come to a standstill when one of the "customers" ends up being the salesman's black sheep uncle, who he hasn't seen for over 20 years. This story thread is incredibly realistic and sad and moving.

Much of the film hangs its weighty topic on the sturdy shoulders of Chieko Basho, one of Japan's finest actresses. "Michi," 78, still works as a motel maid, along with several colleagues, until they are summarily dismissed (without being told the blatant truth: they're too old). Soon Michi learns that her old apartment building will be demolished. (Seeing the interior of the apartment is essential for those fantasizing about living in Japan so they can understand the harsh reality of how many people still live.) This is followed by the death of her friend. Though Michi tries to get a new job and a new apartment, she learns (as we all will) that no one wants to give such an opportunity to an elderly person.

Michi does manage to secure a job, standing on a busy street at night, wearing a workman's coat studded with red reflectors, standing guard, overlooking some kind of construction project. At first I kept asking myself, "Why are they showing the back of some man working on the street at night?" It takes a bit to realize that it's Michi's back.

At her wit's end, Michi decides to apply for Plan 75. To ease her over into the next world, she has several phone conversations (15 minutes max) and one secret meeting with a sympathetic young female staff member (Yuumi Kawai, who almost steals the whole movie). The phone conversations are deeply moving; we learn that Michi's first marriage was arranged, that she desperately wanted to escape, and that her only child was dead upon delivery. It's easy to see how her life became what it is (living alone, her only friends being older women like her, no family),and it's clear to see what her life will become unless she makes a decision.

Plan 75 also adds one more story thread, featuring young Filipina actress Stefanie Arianne. Like many young Filipinas in Japan, "Maria" is a caregiver/nurse in a senior citizen facility. She must be super cheerful and speak great Japanese. Also, like many young Filipinas in Japan, she must send all her money home to care for her family: in her case, a husband and a very sick daughter.

A friend alerts her to a higher-paying job, caring for seniors and "working for the government." This, Maria learns, is "Plan 75," where she must empty the pockets of the dead, remove their spectacles, shoes, belts, and then, later, empty all wallets and purses. She does this alongside an older Japanese man (who most likely will be signing up for Plan 75 himself one day soon). In the two simple scenes that their interaction occurs, one can sense the shocking reality of the end of life. For Maria, she has no choice; she must do something to earn money to save her child.

The lives of the three main characters intersect at some point, but not all of them together at the same time. How each story resolves, I will leave for you to find out.

Cinematography, acting, screenplay and score all combine to make a deeply moving film. Kudos to Chie Hayakawa and Jason Gray for the story, to Chie for the screenplay, and to Chie for directing. This is a rare Japanese movie that avoids so many of the cliches I have seen constantly, which include hysterical screaming, forced crying, people running and people dying in hospitals.

Plan 75 makes it clear that in the dystopian future that awaits us all, it could well become a reality.

'Plan 75', the feature debut of Japanese filmmaker Chie Hayakawa, which premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, is an imperfect and shattering movie, one of those films whose idea and theme will follow viewers long after they have finished watching. The film addresses one of the most acute problems of Japan and many other developed countries - the downward demographic curve caused by the aging of the population, with catastrophic consequences for society and the economy. It is quite remarkable that the film describes this problem in a dystopian setting, but the attention of the script and the director is constantly directed towards the human dimension of the characters and the story.

In the near future or perhaps even in an alternate present, the Japanese government adopts 'Plan 75'. Anyone over the age of 75 has the right to free assisted suicide. Not only is the program funded by the government, but an unconditional bonus of ¥100,000 is also given to each senior who chooses this path. The elderly - many of whom struggle with the hardships of life, the limitations of age and especially loneliness - are also given psychological assistance. The program is excellently organized and enjoying success. After all, sacrifice is in the Japanese tradition, and what is more noble than shortening one's life for the benefit of the common good, relieving the state of the burden of maintenance and thus ensuring an easier future for the young today?

Three main characters are followed in three parallel narrative threads, the connection of which takes place towards the end of the film. Himoru is a government official who convinces the elderly to enroll in the program and helps them fill out the necessary forms. Maria is a foreign worker from the Philippines who ends up being employed in the institution where the final stages of euthanasia take place. Michi is a single woman who at 78 years old struggles with life's hardships, works to support herself and is in danger of being evicted from her home. Enrolling in 'Plan 75' is a desperate solution for her, due to economic and social pressure. All of the acting is excellent, but Chieko Baisho's as Michi is the most impressive. In fact, this part of the narrative is the most coherent.

The film has undeniable cinematic qualities, including some memorable shots. However, the thematic is even stronger than the artistic achievement. It is a very Japanese film in atmosphere, characters, style of interpretation, but the problems it raises are universal. The Western conception that life is more valuable than anything else is being questioned. What is the scale of values of a society that prefers shortening - even in comfortable conditions - the lives of the elderly instead of easing them through care in their final years? How are elderly people dealing with loneliness? How 'humane' is assisted suicide? Isn't the very idea of suicide against human nature? 'Plan 75' manages to trigger these questions in the minds of the viewers without rhetoric or melodrama, by telling the stories of truthful characters, who win the empathy of the viewers. This is a debut film that has already achieved well-deserved international notoriety.