“A charming and offbeat blend of comedy and drama, handcrafted by a director who is not afraid to address some harrowing themes.”

Martha Graham, arguably one of the most celebrated choreographers to have ever worked in the medium, once famously said, “dance is the hidden language of the soul”, which is a solid description for what many consider one of the most graceful and intimate forms of self-expression. It is also an entry point into Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!, the third directorial outing of Josef Kubota Wladyka, who puts together a charming character-based drama that tackles some very intimidating subjects. The film follows Haru, who considers any day without dancing to be entirely wasted. Her partner – whether in their living room or on the dance floor of local Tokyo nightclubs and ballrooms – is her beloved husband, Luis, who moved from Mexico to Japan and built a beautiful little life with her. However, when he suddenly dies during one of their routines Haru finds herself beyond inconsolable, and she vows to give up dancing altogether. When, after months of grief, she is convinced by others to give dancing another try, she reluctantly agrees and falls in love with the art all over again, certainly helped by her charming dance instructor who gives her a new lease on life and makes her realise there truly is a path towards healing. A charming and offbeat blend of comedy and drama, handcrafted by a director who is not afraid to address some harrowing themes, Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! is a small but effective delight in terms of both themes and execution.

Despite what self-help gurus and psychologists may suggest, there is no single way to grieve. You’re not handed a set of guidelines after the death of a loved one that outlines the best and most effective ways to mourn, a stark realisation that we only encounter after the fact. Everyone grieves differently, and it is a deeply personal journey that we can attempt to share with others, but unlike many parts of life, it’s something that everyone has to handle on their own, relying on support more than guidance if it’s available. Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! may have an offbeat, eccentric title, which conceals the fact that this is a film very much about the experience of mourning, never an easy subject to explore on screen. However, rather than dwelling on the sadness, a vital part of the narrative but far from its primary motivation, the film instead examines the process of finding hope and joy in the aftermath of a sudden, premature tragedy. Losing a partner can be unbearable, and the grief can become overwhelming to the point where someone is unable to function, let alone return to their seemingly trivial passions. Some challenges come with the process of moving on, and the message embedded at the heart of Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! is ultimately that the best tribute we can pay to a loved one in death is stepping away from the mourning and instead embracing life, even if it can be daunting.

The titular role in Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! is strong enough that any actor could have very effectively played the role and done relatively well. However, the director enlists the always delightful Rinko Kikuchi to take on the part, and she delivers some of her best work in quite a while, reminding us of her unique gifts and ability to command the screen without doing more than is necessary. At a cursory glance, this is not a particularly complex role – Haru is an eccentric woman who expresses herself through wild hairstyles and garish fashion choices and who is content with her simple but joyful life, until a sudden tragedy derails everything and forces her to re-assess what she thought was going to last forever. As the film progresses, the artifice falls away as we get glimpses into her mind while she navigates the overwhelming sadness following her husband’s death. This is where the core of the performance lies, and the parts where Kikuchi is able to deliver some very strong work. Her ability to never overplay a particular scene, while still being able to emote with incredible precision, anchors the film and prevents it from becoming overly saccharine. This is solely because of her commitment to playing the role in a way that feels genuinely human, rather than just being the bundle of quirks that it may have been in the hands of an actor who didn’t realise this kind of performance is about the ebb and flow of both subtle and strong emotions.

In this regard, Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! proves to be quite effective at developing its core themes without veering toward being heavy-handed all that often. Considering the subject matter some intense emotions are inevitable, but rather than dwelling on them or allowing them to overtake the core of the narrative, Wladyka chooses to openly embrace them, making the tonal leaps part of the experience. The film oscillates between whimsy and melancholy throughout, showing Haru’s journey as one that doesn’t take a single form, but is instead far more fluid, changing constantly as she works through her trauma. This ultimately supports the idea that grieving is not chronological and doesn’t follow a neat path in which each emotion evolves coherently and in a logical order. It is jumbled, complicated and impossible to entirely comprehend, with some days being more challenging than others. The film does sometimes lean too heavily into the broader emotions, but it never feels unearned, nor does it seem like it is guiding the viewer to feel those emotions. Instead, it attempts to be both an accurate portrayal of the grieving process and a statement on the importance of finding the strength to move on – and while it can be slightly too sentimental at times, it finds its purpose after a while and becomes genuinely moving.

Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! is very idiosyncratic and does lean into the more tender elements more often than not, which could pose a slight challenge to those who have an aversion to films that confront harsh realities and difficult subjects directly, rather than weaving them through layers of allusion. This film is truly upfront about the story it intends to tell as well as its core methods; admirable, since it prevents the film from hiding behind a veneer of insincerity, which is far too common for this subject matter. It explores death, the one concept that is both universally understood as an inevitability and impossible to comprehend in its entirety, and presents a story that combines comedy and tragedy in a manner that underlines the puzzling nature of grief. Exploring the inner mind of someone navigating the mourning process, the film offers unique insights into the complex journey of losing our closest companion and the importance of forging a path forward. Through the careful combination of tone, style and genre, Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! is a very charming film, featuring a strong performance from Kikuchi, a lovely screenplay, and an unforgettable soundtrack, all of which serve to support this life-affirming story of a woman who realises that the pain of losing someone may be impossible to bear at first; healing takes time, but will occur once we take that leap. The pain may never entirely vanish, but it can become more manageable even when it feels like it is following us and emerging at the most inopportune moments – and when all else fails, there’s always the opportunity to just move on, embracing the unknown through taking it one dance at a time.