Happyend (Sora, 2024) is a coming-of-age film about a group of teenagers in a Japanese city that sets itself in the near future. With the film setting itself as a dystopian vision of what might be to come, it is striking to see the portrayal of young adults at the heart of it. Youth being corrupted by surveillance and altogether authoritarian order. That’s not to say the film is totally bleak in its outlook. The spirit of youth through rebellion and altogether hope for a better future is what shines through the most and acts paradoxically as a reassuring picture of what is to come rather than just downbeat visions of future technological changes.

The further the film delves into a dystopian vision of a future, the more rebellious the youngsters become. They all believe that society needs to change like most youth do, but it is about the lengths they will go to to achieve this. One teenager needs citizenship to Japan and can only get this through behaving well, others want good grades to be able to get into their selected universities. It becomes a balancing act between wanting these aspirations, but at the same time having to comply to immoral societal values which they have become part of. As stated before, this is in a society that is more dystopian that the world today. Yet it highlights the situation most teenagers face at this age. To rebel is to highlight injustice and bring about change, yet stability in life is also needed to create a harmonious life.