Happyend, the debut feature by Japanese-American filmmaker Neo Sora, is a haunting and poetic vision of adolescence in a surveillance-driven near-future Tokyo. Premiering in the Orizzonti section at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, the film follows two best friends, Yuta and Kou, as they prepare to graduate high school under the looming threat of a catastrophic earthquake. When a late-night prank triggers the installation of a school-wide surveillance system, their friendship begins to fracture—revealing deeper anxieties about freedom, identity, and the cost of growing up in a society obsessed with control.

Written and directed by Sora, Happyend blends dystopian sci-fi with intimate character drama, capturing the emotional turbulence of youth through dreamlike visuals and a pulsating soundscape. Featuring standout performances by Hayato Kurihara and Yukito Hidaka, and supported by a diverse ensemble cast including Makiko Watanabe and Shirō Sano, the film explores how rebellion, music, and imagination become acts of resistance in a world where even thoughts feel monitored.

Produced across Japan and the United States, and distributed by Bitters End and Film Movement, Happyend is a striking meditation on friendship, surveillance, and the fragile hope that lingers at the edge of disaster.