When stricken by grief, it can be difficult to find a new groove once again.

Set in Tokyo, Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! tells the story of Haru (Rinko Kikuchi) – or Ha-Chan, as her friends call her – a devoted ballroom dancer who shares her love of competing with her husband, Luis (Alejandro Edda). However, after Luis passes away suddenly, Ha-Chan isolates herself from the world for almost a year, grieving the loss of her beloved.

However, after time goes by her sister Yuki (Yoh Yoshida) and cousin Hiromi (YOU) attempt to drag Haru from her solitary life and back onto the dancefloor. After bringing her to a new class, Haru becomes infatuated with her new instructor, Fedir (Alberto Guerra). Even so, Fedir’s lifestyle is new to Haru, causing her to confront the uncertainties within the only life that she’s ever known.

Directed by Josef Kubota Wladyka, Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! is a delightfully absurd and honest look at what it means to pick up the pieces after all has been stripped away. Despite the heaviness of its subject matter, the film never feels weighed down but sadness. Instead, there’s an infectious joy within this particular piece that keeps it moving at all times, sweeping the viewer off their feet with resounding joy.

What keeps the party truly going are the film’s delightful dance routines. Set within the confines of Ha-Chan’s imagination, every musical number seems buoyed by their precision and quirkiness. Featuring a surprising soundtrack that includes such needle-drops as September, Lady Marmalade and… Dreams by the Cranberries, Shake Your Booty truly comes alive when it lets loose on the dancefloor. Bursting with comedic energy, Wladyka keeps these routines feeling honest to Ha-Chan’s journey, allowing her to express herself through movement in ways that words can’t express.

As Ha-Chan, Kikuchi truly moves with a blend of grief and grace. As she attempts to step back out onto the dance floor (both literally and metaphorically), Kikuchi plays her character with light humour. But all of that levity changes when Ha-Chan reflects on the loss of her beloved. The burden within her soul is told through her eyes, even in moments of absurdity (such as the appearance of a 6-foot crow). In these spaces, Kikuchi manages to keep the whimsical nature of the film fully grounded. Every spontaneous musical number seems somehow rooted in both magic and reality as Ha-Chan attempts to navigate the next chapter of her life through the blurry lens of grief.

And that lens is indeed the heartbeat of Shake Your Booty. For Ha-Chan, the loss of her husband has left her emotionally adrift. Her partner in life (and on the dance floor), Luis is shown to bring light into his wife’s world. So, after his passing, she finds herself feeling lost.

However, although Shake Your Booty takes Ha-Chan’s emotional state extremely seriously, this is very much a film about the rediscovery of joy. Time-jumping nine months away from Luis’ death allows Wladyka to spend the bulk of his story on the climb towards new love rather than wallow in the depth of Ha-Chan’s valley of grief. In doing so, the film’s tone lightens almost instantly as she begins to open herself up to the possibility of love and new relationships.

It’s also worth noting that the conversation Wladyka wants to have about relationships is… different in its approach. Without saying too much, the opportunity to find love in the arms of Fedir challenges her understanding of the way that love can work. Having come out of a traditional marriage, Fedir’s world isn’t what she’s used to and she finds herself challenged by his views. However, it’s worth noting that Wladyka never argues against Fedir’s position on love and relationships.

Instead, it’s Ha-Chan who needs to decide whether or not she’s comfortable with the new arrangement.

For Wladyka, finding new love (and, frankly, new life) stems from finding what works for the individual. From Fedir’s views on relationships to simply starting over, Shake Your Booty forces Ha-Chan to ask tough questions about herself and what she truly wants out of life. There’s a spirit of hope in finding out who we are and living it out, even in the midst of tragedy. As Ha-Chan navigates her most difficult moments, she’s also invited to explore who she is as an individual, an opportunity that has the potential to re-energize her.

And Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty uses that positivity as fuel for its journey. Energetic, enthusiastic and, frankly, utterly delightful, there’s something truly special about this film that keeps things silly, even at its most serious.

Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! is available in theatres on Friday, September 25th, 2026.