JennyStuckOnThatRooftop

“It’s fine that you’re working, but you need to act more like a wife.”

"Sensei, Would You Sit Beside Me?" smartly blurs the lines between fiction and reality when manga artist Sawako decides to write a story based on her husband's suspected infidelity. When Sawako's husband Toshio finds the drafts of her new work, he realizes in shock his wife not only suspects him of cheating on her, but she is also seemingly cheating on him with her new driving instructor.

Given the subject, I didn't expect to be so amused by this story. Seeing Toshio lose his mind and second guess every word Sawako says to him, while we try to figure out who knows what and did exactly what with whom, was the most entertaining part of the movie. Kuroki Haru perfectly portrays Sawako's insecurity and sadness while delivering snarky remarks with an innocent face that would make me regret and confess no matter if I did something wrong or not. Emoto Tasuku is convincing as the fumbling, chaotic artist in a midlife crisis. Seeing him try to figure things out while trying to not give away anything himself made for some hilarious moments. The cast was good in general, and these two played off of each other really well.

The dialogues are clever, the mix of fiction and reality is creative and well done. Sadly, the plot is rather thin, so the movie would have benefitted from a shorter runtime to add more suspense. I also feel the storytelling was too timid at times, and a more daring approach would have made this one far more entertaining. Overall, I did have a good time with it and particularly enjoyed the last 20 minutes that were unexpected and satisfying.