Second Opinion: "Evil Does Not Exist" is the Scariest Wiseman Film You'll Ever See

by Nick Taylor

First, let me say that I enjoyed reading Ben Miller’s less enthusiastic but deeply engaged review of Evil Does Not Exist. I would never have thought to compare this with Aronofsky’s mother!, though as he points out, both films are quite skilled at accumulating tension despite or even because of their unpredictability. He’s also right about the resonance of the ending, which takes the film’s main themes about survival, self-defense, and man’s different awareness of their place in nature and heightens that allegory dramatically. Pondering the finale has made it feel less inscrutable, but that hasn’t dulled its impact in the slightest. 

Rather than editorializing on Ben’s review by saying “umactuallyilikedthatpart” for a few hundred words, I’m going to go deep on one key sequence, talk about why I liked it, and how it exemplifies what I love about Evil Does Not Exist...

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