Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! opens with dance, grief and a new romance

Sony Pictures Classics opens Josef Kubota Wladyka's Rinko Kikuchi-led film September 25 after Sundance and Toronto screenings.

Sony Pictures Classics opens Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! in US cinemas on 25 September. Rinko Kikuchi plays Haru, a Tokyo ballroom dancer who withdraws after a tragedy involving her partner Luis. Friends draw her back to the studio, where a new instructor stirs feelings she is not ready to sort out. The distributor's

official film page supplies the opening date, synopsis and ticket link. Movement as a way back into life Josef Kubota Wladyka directs from a screenplay written with Nicholas Huynh. The official page lists Alberto Guerra, Alejandro Edda, YOU and Yoh Yoshida alongside Kikuchi, and notes the film's Sundance directing

award and Toronto selection. Its premise makes the dancing more than a backdrop: returning to the floor is how Haru begins to test whether she can reconnect with other people while still grieving. The festival reviews show different reactions to that approach. George Bate at ScreenAnarchy found the film's dance

sequences and Kikuchi's physical performance moving. Kenji Fujishima at Slant also praised Kikuchi, but thought some of the surrounding characters were too thinly drawn for the film's stylistic flourishes. These are attributed critics' views from advance screenings; Mythscribe has not seen the film. The distributor's

ticket link is the useful next stop for a local screening. An announced opening date does not guarantee every cinema has a showing, especially for a specialist release. Viewers interested in a romance built around grief, friendship and dance can check the venue and showtime before travelling. Headline image: official

Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! film still supplied by Sony Pictures Classics.

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