Review: ‘Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!’ is a messy grief dramedy with fantastical ballroom dancing
2026 / Dir. Josef Kubota Wladyka / 2026 Sundance Film Festival
Rating: 3.5/5
Watch if you like: the whimsy of Amélie transported into a messy grief dramedy with fantastical ballroom dancing and ridiculous perms.
Sure to be a crowd pleaser, the cheekily tilted Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! depicts the chaotic interior and exterior life of Haru (a very fun Rinko Kikuchi) after the death of her husband and ballroom dance partner. Before his death, Haru lived in full ‘70s glam and literally levitated above the dance floor with Luis (Alejandro Edda). Now she’s become a recluse and haunted by a massive black bird that resembles a sports mascot. That is, until a new dance instructor (Alberto Guerra) starts to feel like her one shot at rediscovering herself.
Ha-Chan makes some really strange narrative decisions that don’t always work, but are held together by Kikuchi’s vivacious performance. Haru’s fanciful imagination often takes over, leading to many joyful musical numbers, such as a run-in with some drunken Japanese businessmen that turns into a choreographed fight dance set to a Japanese cover of “Be My Baby,” which left me cackling with joy. Released in a time when everything feels like a mess, sometimes the most life-affirming thing you can do is to be a mess yourself.