(Film viewed as part of the Chicago International Film Festival)

Dystopian fiction done right feels just plausible enough that you can envision those events playing out in real life. Just ask Margaret Atwood.

Director Chie Hayakawa’s new film, “Plan 75,” also has that plausibility factor. So much so, that at times the premise feels a bit too achievable.

“Plan 75” imagines a Japan whose senior citizen population needs to be thinned. The solution? Plan 75: Voluntarily euthanasia for seniors over 75. It’s not all bad for those seniors; they get some yen in exchange for their sacrifice, so they can enjoy one last splurge … or help their families cover funeral expenses. The government isn’t made of monsters, after all.

This movie couldn’t exist if not for “Soylent Green” and “Logan’s Run” before it (how has the latter not been remade yet?). The difference here is that “Plan 75” doesn’t feel like science fiction.

#chifilmfest