Gekijo
2020 / 136m - Japan
Romance, Drama
3.5*/5.0*
Theater: A Love Story poster

Watches

September 16, 2020

3.5*/5.0*

A sweet but rather familiar romance by Yukisada. In recent years Yukisada's been exploring some different genre niches, with Theater: A Love Story he seems to return to what he knows best: a solid combination of romance and drama. It works well enough, but at this point I expect more (or something different).

Nagata is a play writer for an underground theater group. He's somewhat of a recluse, but when he meets Saki he has finally found someone he can open up to. He's finally able to write a popular play and the relationship between the two seems to be going into the right direction, until Nagata starts sabotaging himself.

Performances are great, the film looks nice and the score is very pleasant. There's really nothing wrong with this film, except that I've seen Yukisada do the exact same thing better in the past. His latest is just very safe and by the numbers. It's perfect filler when you're looking for quality drama, but it didn't get to me the way his best work can.