Near joined L and a 10-year-old schoolgirl, Maki Nikaido, in their escape from a terrorist group who was the one that created the virus which killed Near's fellow villagers and friends back from Thailand. He formed a bond with both Maki and L throughout their escape. Near played an important role in the process to create the antidote, as he was the one who solved a mathematical question left behind by Maki's father, and the answer turned out to be a crucial clue to making the antidote. His supposed immunity to the virus also contributed to the antidote-making process by him providing his blood and thus leading to a positive outcome. As a result of Near's actions, he indirectly saved all the plane passengers infected by the virus in the climax of the film, and Maki as well. In the final scenes of the film, L brought the boy to the orphanage he grew up in, where L gifted him a robot and named him "Near". It would be the last time Near would see L alive before L's death. It is not known how Near reacts to L's death or what is his eventual fate, since he did not make any further appearances in the subsequent sequels of the live-action Death Note Japanese film series. Despite being named Near, the character was credited as "BOY" in the film's ending credits. Similarly, there was nothing known about Near's birth name in the film.