With the release of Psycho-Pass: Providence (2023), the Psycho-Pass franchise is celebrating its eleventh anniversary, the first season having begun back in 2012. That season introduced us to the trio Akane Tsunemori, Shinya Kogami, and Shogo Makishima, characters who are complex and fascinating to watch. We were also introduced to the dystopian setting, 22nd century Japan, and how the country has changed because of the Sibyl System, which effectively governs them, acting as judge, jury, and executioner.
But if you’re reading this article, you probably know all of that already, as this is a series with three whole seasons of anime and five films, making Providence the sixth. Psycho-Pass, hues, crime coefficient, criminally asymptomatic – all these terms need no introduction to the experienced viewer. And that’s why this isn’t a good entry point into the series because the film expects you to be familiar with the lore, setting, characters, and what happened in past seasons and films.
Beyond that, though, this is a decent film, if not quite outstanding, and for many fans, nothing will reach the heights of the first season. Psycho-Pass: Providence aims to explain what happened before season 3 and why Akane Tsunemori was imprisoned, along with better explaining the motives for Kei Mikhail Ignatov and Arata Shindo, the new protagonists of season 3. Overall, fans of Psycho-Pass should enjoy the latest entry in the series.
Psycho-Pass Providence (2023) Movie Synopsis & Plot Summary:
In January of 2118, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs ship tasked with protecting Professor Milicia Stronskaya faced an assault from an organization known as the Peacebreakers. During the attack, one of the senior members named Kai kills Professor Stronskaya while attempting to find her research documents – referred to as only the Stronskaya papers. Shinya Kogami, now back in Japan and operating as a special investigator within the Foreign Affairs Suppressing Action Department (SAD), intervenes, having dropped onto the ship via gliding gear. Nonetheless, Kogami’s efforts are thwarted as he encounters a brainwashed agent from the SAD, who quotes the Bible and ignores his injuries, preventing him from stopping the Peacebreakers.
Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Inspector Akane Tsunemori raises concerns about Japan’s Ministry of Justice being dissolved, arguing against it and its use of international law while discussing the Sibyl System’s expanding influence overseas. This discussion takes place in a meeting with high-ranking government officials, including Director Atsushi Shindo (father of Arata from the third season), who is in charge of the nation’s Immigration Bureau and holds a lot of political clout.
As things get heated, they are informed about the Peacebreakers incident and proceed to the site where Stronskaya’s vessel was found destroyed. Chief Josui Kasei instructs Tsunemori to step back from the inquiry, as the SAD, headed by agent Frederica Hanashiro and SAD Director Yabuki, will take charge of the case. Before the handover happens, though, enforcer Nobuchika Ginoza discovers that the vessel was actually under SAD protection. Additionally, enforcer Sho Hinakawa uncovers evidence indicating that Professor Stronskaya sent a message before dying to PSB analyst and Tsunemori’s friend, Joji Saiga.
Going to visit Saiga, he confides in Tsunemori about his past collaboration with Stronskaya, whose research focuses on the Sibyl System’s impact on foreign nations. The two of them used to get into several debates over the years. Saiga also reveals that Stronskaya’s message directs him to a PO Box in a sector in Japan dedicated to accommodating immigrants seeking citizenship in Japan.
Armed with this vital clue, Chief Kasei initiates a collaborative effort between the PSB and SAD, forming a joint task force to recover the Stronskaya papers before the Peacekeepers can get their hands on them. Hanashiro provides Tsunemori’s team with a briefing about the organization, which was originally a black-ops unit under Foreign Affairs but later went rogue for unknown reasons. The group is now similar to a cult, led by Tonami in lieu of their supposed “god,” known only as “The General.”
During the course of this investigation, Kogami reunites with Tsunemori and Ginoza, and the latter is less than thrilled about it. As Saiga, also part of the investigation as a profiler, works on building a psychological profile of Tonami, he urges Kogami to offer an apology to Tsunemori for the events that led to his fleeing the country.
At the same time, Saiga cautions Kogami against succumbing to his violent instincts once more. Kogami, in turn, expresses surprise that Kogami is working with the PSB and SAD, but Saiga explains that he is working only with Akane Tsunemori. Kogami tries to apologize as told but is unable to. Tsunemori cautions that she will have no choice but to arrest him if he goes against the law again as he did with killing Shogo Makishima.
Upon reaching the PO box location, the task force discovers a decoy package inside, cunningly concealing the actual whereabouts of the papers. Tsunemori and Kogami deduce that this entire operation has been orchestrated as a ruse to entice the Peacebreakers into revealing themselves from their hiding place. This is because the entire district has been evacuated, and no citizens are there at all. Hanashiro admits to it and promises that Saiga, a non–combatant, will be safe from harm.
A still from Psycho-Pass: Providence (2023)At that point, The Peacebreakers, led by Bokamoso Murrary and Kai, launch an attack against them for the Stronskaya Papers, not knowing that they aren’t there. In the course of their clash, it becomes evident that the Peacebreakers possess unusually low Crime Coefficients, remarkable pain tolerance, and the unsettling ability to somehow brainwash SAD agents. Amid the chaos, Director Yabuki is taken captive, and Saiga gets drawn into the fight, clinging to a ledge for survival.
Before his death, he imparts a final message to Tsunemori, emphasizing the importance of remaining open-minded when seeking truth and justice. Ginoza confronts and eliminates Murray, while Kogami engages in a protracted exchange with Kai. Despite Kai’s eventual victory over Kogami, he surprisingly chooses to depart the scene, leaving cryptic clues behind that point to the Peacebreakers’ headquarters, a mystery till then.
In the aftermath, Tsunemori is sad about Saiga’s death and is upset with the Foreign Affairs Department for the way things went, but is able to focus again after a bit. With help from their Enforcer analysts and the hints left by Kai, they are able to trace the location of the headquarters of the Peacebreakers. The team manages to rescue Yabuki, tortured and injured but still alive and comes across Kai. To their surprise, he surrenders and reveals himself as a deep undercover SAD agent called Akira Vasily Ignatov (the older brother of Kei from the third season).
Taken into custody owing to potential brainwashing, Akira provides Kogami with critical information about the Divider, a powerful software capable of hacking into the computer chip enhancements in the minds of the Peacebreakers. This software effectively severs their feelings of guilt, granting them remarkable combat skills and enabling them to brainwash others. Furthermore, Akira discloses that he possesses the Papers, revealing that Professor Stronskaya died voluntarily to protect Akira’s undercover identity. The Papers turn out to be a blueprint for a Conflict Coefficient, providing Sibyl with the means to control war and manage foreign affairs.
Right after the questioning, Tonami seizes control of Yabuki and Akira, trying to flee with the Stronskaya papers after wounding Kogami. However, Akira resists Tonami’s control and enables Shindo to deliver a fatal blow to him. Akira requests Shindo to take care of his brother, Kei. Now in possession of the Stronskaya papers, Shindo meets with Chief Kasei, knowing she is the Sibyl System, and strikes a deal, offering the research in exchange for ensuring that his son, Arata, who is criminally asymptomatic, won’t be forced to join the system. In doing so, Shindo takes a risk, relying on Sibyl’s belief in the potential of humanity, which Sibyl says is their reason for existing.
Later on, during Kei’s wedding to Maiko, Shindo gives his wisdom to the newlyweds and his son through a wedding speech, emphasizing the importance of seeking truth as a guiding principle for justice. However, after the wedding is done, he tragically takes his own life to uphold his silence about the agreement he made with Sibyl.
As the investigation unfolds, a heartbroken Arata asks Tsunemori about his father’s death, unable to understand anything. In response, though she can’t reveal anything, she nudges him to embark on his own quest for the truth, gently telling him to discover the facts surrounding his father’s suicide.
After that, Tsunemori finds out from Ginoza that the investigation has been halted, which Kasei confirms as the Sibyl System and Peacebreakers have made a deal. In exchange for the Stronskaya Papers and their own city-state within the country, they will aid Sybil’s goal of being adopted in other countries across the world.
Not wanting to let the Peacebreakers get away with everything they did, Tsunemori, Kogami, and Hanashiro choose to act on their own to bring them into custody. The others also agree to help them. They split into teams who will infiltrate the new Peacebreakers city-state, and a support team operates remotely. As they arrive on the Peacebreakers’ island, their dominators don’t work as the Divider is still in effect. So the remote team works through enforcers Sho Hinakawa’s hacking abilities and Teppei Sugo’s piloting ability to bring down the satellite controlling the Divider.
After that, the dominators start working, and they’re able to engage the Peacemakers with the dominators, turning the tide. Inspector Shimotsuki, while leading them, is also able to convince Kasei to lend aid, arguing Akane Tsunemori is too valuable to the Sibyl System.
Elsewhere on the island, Tsunemori pretends to have the Stronskaya Papers and demands a meeting with The General, which Tonami grants her. The General is revealed to be a medical AI derivative of the Sibyl System whose purpose was to increase morale for those serving in the army. Realizing her ruse when Tsunemori tries to arrest him, Tonami seriously injures her. But Tsunemori manages to throw her dominator on The General’s console, connecting it to the Sibyl System and erasing it.
Enraged, Tonami is about to kill Tsunemori and says that the traditional justice system and laws are unneeded, with the Sybil System operating, with Tsunemori arguing otherwise. Just as Tonami is about to pull the trigger, Kogami arrives and kills him instead, with Tsunemori upset that she failed to stop him yet again.
Psycho-Pass Providence (2023) Movie Ending, Explained:
Why does Akane Tsunemori go to jail?
With the case now well and truly closed, enforcers Ginoza and Sugo are sent to work with the SAD, and an imprisoned Kogami is also released. However, while imprisoned, he receives a letter from Akane Tsunemori, who reveals her dissatisfaction and disillusionment with the Sybil System’s authoritarian ways. This is despite her being promoted to a high-ranking government position, similar to the power held by Director Shindo.
Tsunemori carries out her plan by shooting Chief Kasei live on television, but her crime coefficient doesn’t rise, and the public wonders why but no answers are forthcoming. She tells a furious, emotional Mika Shimotsuki to look after the team. The Ministry of Justice, which was all set to be dissolved, is saved for the time being, and Tsunemori is imprisoned. While in jail, Akane Tsunemori is finally overwhelmed by the case and all that happened and begins to cry, while a newly freed Kogami plans to have her released.
Read More: Psycho-Pass Providence (2023) Movie Review: A Bridge To A Complex, Terrifying Dystopian World
Trailer:
Psycho-Pass Providence Movie (2023) Links: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Wikipedia
Psycho-Pass Providence Movie (2023) Voice Actors: Kana Hanazawa, Tomokazu Seki, Kenji Nojima, Shizuka Itō, Miyuki Sawashiro, Ayane Sakura
Psycho-Pass Providence Movie (2023) Genre: Sci-fi/Crime, Runtime: 2 hours
Where to watch Psycho-Pass: Providence
