---
title: "Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!"
year: 2026
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/ha-chan-shake-your-booty"
fi1m_id: "ha-chan-shake-your-booty"
imdb_id: "tt39149197"
tmdb_id: 1596249
wikidata_id: "Q137380441"
fi1m_score: 74
critics_score: 74
critics_reviews: 10
published: "2026-09-24T03:31:08.460832+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-24T03:31:08.831228+00:00"
region: "BR"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! (2026)

Directed by Josef Kubota Wladyka · 2h 02m · Comedy, Drama, Romance

## Identity

Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/ha-chan-shake-your-booty
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** ha-chan-shake-your-booty
- **IMDb ID:** tt39149197
- **TMDB ID:** 1596249
- **Wikidata ID:** Q137380441
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt39149197/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1596249, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q137380441

**Fi1m score: 74** · Critics 74 from 10 reviews

*In a sentence:* Rinko Kikuchi makes ballroom dancing seem a sensible response to grief

> Rinko Kikuchi makes this uneven ballroom romance worth the evening, giving its grief and surreal dance sequences a warmth the plotting cannot always sustain. The comedy wanders, but Haru remains someone we want to stay with.

## Synopsis

Haru (Rinko Kikuchi) is living with grief, with ballroom dancing offering a way to express feelings that complicate the possibility of starting again. Her story also includes Fedir (Alberto Guerra) and Luis (Alejandro Edda), alongside Hiromi (YOU) and Yuki (Yō Yoshida). Romance and renewed connection raise the question of how to move forward while her life remains marked by loss. The film follows Haru through comedy and sorrow, allowing its dance sequences to depart from everyday life and move into surreal fantasy.

## Review

Josef Kubota Wladyka gives grief some company in this playful ballroom romance: comedy, the hope of renewed connection and dances that are allowed to become fantasies. It is a good fit for Rinko Kikuchi, whose Haru can be funny without making her sorrow seem like something the film has forgotten. We recommend it for her, and for the freedom of the dancing, with a reservation about a story that keeps interrupting its own progress. At 122 minutes, it has more room for eccentricity than it needs.

Haru could easily have become a collection of reactions to whatever odd development the writers produce next. Instead, her performance gives the character enough emotional consistency to prevent that, allowing the comedy and the hurt to belong to the same person. We warmed to Haru because her expressive dancing makes pleasure possible without suggesting that her grief has gone away. That matters in a film about beginning again, where optimism can so easily become an instruction to stop being sad.

The surreal dance sequences are the clearest reason to choose this over a more cautious romance. Daniel Satinoff’s cinematography and Masami Tanaka’s production design find their most persuasive use in these passages, which give Haru’s complicated feelings something to do beyond being discussed. Nathan Halpern supplies the music for a film whose most convincing emotional expression comes through dancing. The collective achievement is to make the fantasy feel like a natural part of Haru’s experience, even when the surrounding story struggles to connect its episodes.

The script, by Nicholas Huynh and Josef Kubota Wladyka, is less dependable. Its increasingly eccentric turns can make following Haru’s feelings harder than following its appetite for another surprise. The episodic storytelling also leaves the people around her less fully imagined, and a romance needs those other people to have some weight of their own. Rinko Kikuchi does much of the work of making these encounters matter, but a supporting character should offer more than another opportunity for the lead to be expressive.

Ben Rodriguez Jr. edits a film whose individual dance sequences are more satisfying than its movement from one episode to another. The sharper shifts into darker material sometimes feel punitive, placing fresh emphasis on pain when Haru’s emotional difficulties are already clear. That unevenness makes the running time harder to justify. A little less insistence on changing the mood would have allowed the film to stay with a feeling long enough for it to develop, rather than requiring another adjustment from us.

For a romantic comedy, its willingness to let grief remain untidy is welcome. There is something generous about allowing a character to be sorrowful, funny and open to pleasure without demanding that each feeling take its turn in an orderly fashion. The trouble comes when the storytelling mistakes that emotional messiness for permission to wander, and the thinner characterisation becomes harder to overlook. Even so, the performance and the dancing provide enough pleasure to make the patience worthwhile. Choose it for Rinko Kikuchi, with some tolerance for the diversions between dances.

*Fi1m score 74, published 24 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics respond warmly to the film’s playful treatment of grief and renewal, with seven positive reviews and three mixed. Praise centres on Rinko Kikuchi, whose funny, emotionally grounded performance gives the whimsy a human basis. The dance sequences are another point of agreement: the reviews repeatedly welcome their energy and expressive use of fantasy. Even the more reserved critics find charm and pleasure in the film’s willingness to be odd.

The disagreement concerns how well that oddness serves the story. Some reviews find the tonal shifts graceful; others say the increasingly wacky turns interrupt the emotion or make the darker passages feel punitive. Slant Magazine points to superficial characterisation, while Eye for Film finds that the episodic structure weakens the emotional payoff. Collider is considerably more enthusiastic, valuing the earnestness and simplicity that other reviews find less satisfying. The spread runs from qualified enjoyment to firm affection, with no outright rejection.

## Straight answers

**How long is Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!, and what is it rated?**

*Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!* runs 2h 02m. It is a comedy and drama film.

**Where can I watch Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! in Brazil?**

*Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!* is not on any streaming or rental service in Brazil at the moment. Availability is checked daily.

**What should I watch after Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!?**

After *Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!*, try [*Truly, Madly, Deeply*](https://film.one/film/truly-madly-deeply) (1990, Fi1m 80): For grief approached through fantasy, awkward humour and the difficulty of moving forward. Then [*The Farewell*](https://film.one/film/the-farewell) (2019, Fi1m 84): For family sorrow handled with humour and room for conflicting feelings; and [*Strictly Ballroom*](https://film.one/film/strictly-ballroom) (1992, Fi1m 83): For romantic defiance expressed through dance, with considerably less restraint.

### Reviews we read (10)

- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Caryn James (80/100, inferred): The critic calls the film a small delight and an unexpected charmer, with an optimistic story of grief and renewal. She praises Rinko Kikuchi’s affecting, funny performance and the graceful shifts into surreal fantasy. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/ha-chan-shake-your-booty-review-rinko-kikuchi-1236477774/)
- **IndieWire**, Kate Erbland (B): Erbland finds the film’s whimsical approach to grief mostly successful, though increasingly wacky plot turns sometimes disrupt its emotional flow. She praises Rinko Kikuchi’s performance and the film’s effervescent spirit, especially its fantastical dance sequences. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/ha-chan-shake-your-booty-review-1235173742/)
- **Screen Daily**, Wendy Ide (70/100, inferred): The review presents the film as charming and playful. It singles out Rinko Kikuchi as a spark in the ballroom dance drama. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/ha-chan-shake-your-booty-review-rinko-kikuchi-sparks-in-playful-ballroom-dance-drama/5212871.article)
- **Slant Magazine**, Kenji Fujishima (2.5/4): The review finds the film charming but held back by superficial characterizations. It praises Kikuchi Rinko’s emotionally grounded performance amid the film’s playful surrealism. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/ha-chan-shake-your-booty-review/)
- **The New Yorker**, Justin Chang (60/100, inferred): Chang finds the comedy uneven but enjoyable, with its shifts into darker territory sometimes feeling unnecessarily punitive. He praises Kikuchi’s freewheeling performance and Wladyka’s loopy, expressive dance sequences. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/one-last-sundance-in-park-city)
- **Collider**, Taylor Gates (9/10): Gates calls it a charming, near-perfect surreal rom-com whose earnestness and simplicity make it special. She especially praises Rinko Kikuchi’s emotionally wide-ranging performance and the film’s energetic dance numbers. [Read](https://collider.com/ha-chan-shake-your-booty-review-musical-rom-com-sundance/)
- **The Playlist** (85/100, inferred): The headline presents the film as an engaging crowd-pleaser. It singles out Rinko Kikuchi’s captivating performance and the film’s playful take on the formula. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/ha-chan-shake-your-booty-review-rinko-kikuchi-captivates-in-a-ballroom-crowd-pleaser-that-fantastically-embraces-flips-the-formula-sundance-20260122/)
- **Deadline**, Glenn Garner (80/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a heartfelt, whimsical exploration of grief and renewed connection. Rinko Kikuchi’s emotionally expressive performance and dancing are singled out for praise. [Read](https://deadline.com/2026/01/ha-chan-shake-your-booty-review-1236690960/)
- **The Wrap** (75/100, inferred): The critic finds the film quirky but emotionally grounded, with its tonal control keeping it on beat. Rinko Kikuchi’s singular, expressive presence is singled out for balancing the whimsy with Haru’s complicated emotions. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/ha-chan-shake-your-booty-review/)
- **Eye for Film**, Jeremy Mathews (65/100, inferred): Mathews finds the film an uneven but ultimately joyful exploration of grief and moving forward. He praises Rinko Kikuchi’s performance and the film’s dance sequences, while noting that its episodic structure weakens the emotional payoff. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/ha-chan-shake-your-booty-2026-film-review-by-jeremy-mathews)

## Details

- **Director:** Josef Kubota Wladyka
- **Director:** Josef Kubota Wladyka
- **Writer:** Josef Kubota Wladyka, Nicholas Huynh
- **Cinematography:** Daniel Satinoff
- **Editor:** Ben Rodriguez Jr.
- **Music:** Nathan Halpern
- **Production design:** Masami Tanaka
- **Costume design:** Babymix
- **Producer:** Josef Kubota Wladyka, Mao Nagakura, Kimberly Parker Zox
- **Cast:** Rinko Kikuchi as Haru; Alberto Guerra as Fedir; Alejandro Edda as Luis; YOU as Hiromi; Yō Yoshida as Yuki; Damián Alcázar as Jacobo; Cristina Rodlo as Cristina; Derek Mio as Peter
- **Runtime:** 2h 02m
- **First release (the US):** 22 January 2026
- **Genres:** Comedy, Drama, Romance
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik4lJmXgR6U

## Where to watch in Brazil

Not streaming, renting or buying in Brazil at the last check.

## If you liked this

- *Shall We Dance?* (1996): For a Japanese story of private longing finding expression through ballroom dancing.
- *Gloria* (2013): For adult romance that gives dancing and disappointment equal attention.
- *Truly, Madly, Deeply* (1990), Fi1m 80: For grief approached through fantasy, awkward humour and the difficulty of moving forward. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/truly-madly-deeply.md)
- *The Farewell* (2019), Fi1m 84: For family sorrow handled with humour and room for conflicting feelings. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-farewell.md)
- *Strictly Ballroom* (1992), Fi1m 83: For romantic defiance expressed through dance, with considerably less restraint. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/strictly-ballroom.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/ha-chan-shake-your-booty