Director: Josef Kubota Wladyka
Cast: Rinko Kikuchi, Alberto Guerra, Alejandro Edda, You, Yoh Yoshida, Damián Alcázar
Screenplay: Josef Kubota Wladyka, Nicholas Huynh
122 mins. Rated R for sexual content and language.

In Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty, Rinko Kikuchi (Pacific Rim) is a regular dancing queen staring down the barrel of tragedy, and the only thing that can save her is the rhythm of music.

When her husband unexpectedly dies mid-performance, Haru (Kikuchi) is utterly distraught, sinking into a walled off world of her home, her only solace from a mysterious mascot-costumed-black-bird always on the periphery. Her friends and family eventually coax her to rejoin the dance studio, where she becomes enamored with the new dance instructor Fedir (Alberto Guerra, Griselda). As she connects with Fedir, the pain of surviving and living on without her husband continues to haunt her with conflicting grief and passion.

This entire movie belongs to the charming and revelatory Rinko Kikuchi, who takes center stage and makes the most of it. The dreamy construction around her all elevates her performance. Everything that happens to her feels organic and relatable, from a dance moment early on that is true perfection and happiness to the moments after that veer heavily into personal tragedy. I’d argue that the emotional beats with both husband Luis (Alejandro Edda, American Made) and Fedir work better with Kikuchi and the chemistry she has with both, and that complication serves the central conflict of her character.

Director Josef Kubota Wladyka (Catch the Fair One) is known for heavier fare, and his delicate touch here aids Kikuchi in her awards-worthy performance with a handful of stylistic flares, most notably the costumed black bird, always nearby, always reminding Haru both of her pain and her perceived betrayal, feeling as though any happiness is now undeserved. I love when a movie can develop its own language over the course of the story, and Wladyka adds chapter titles to the film (a minor distinction, but I love me some chapters in movies), he also keeps a version of Luis alive in Haru’s memory (he even does her Halloween makeup later in the film), and the dance scenes are focused on the characters and what this moment means to them over trying to make them over-the-top musical set pieces. Altogether, it’s a delight.

Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty is too long for the story it is conveying, but a terrific turn from Kikuchi and Wladyka’s visual style keep a film that, on the surface, seems so dark and dreary but instead becomes so full of life, joy, and a ramen scene that would make Tampopo proud. It’s a simple, utterly aborable character study that feels realest in its unreality.

3½/5
-Kyle A. Goethe