In “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” Ursula K. Le Guin imagined a utopian city whose affluence depends on the perpetual suffering of a single child. When confronted with this grim reality, most of the city’s inhabitants choose to accept its “terrible justice” and go on with their lives — but as the title of the tale suggests, some choose a higher path.
Writer and director Sayaka Kai’s cerebral sci-fi drama “Adabana” (“Barren Flower”) is premised on an even more monstrous trade-off.
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𝘐𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴, 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘶𝘮. 𝘈 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦, 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘐𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 “𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵.” 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. - James Hadfield