Me & My Brother’s Mistress (2019)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2019
	Director: Takashi HAGA, Sho SUZUKI
	Actors: Nanami KASAMATSU, Yui MURATA, Satoshi IWAGO
	Country: J
	Genre: Romance, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 11.06.2020, NCF2020, 14" computer screen
Synopsis: Yoko, a high school student, lives with her brother, Kenji.  Since they lost their parents early, they have been supported each other.  One night, Yoko witnesses Kenji, who is planning to get married, having an affair with Misa.
Review: A Romance/Drama is usually not the kind of movie I watch, in this one I was expecting some Comedy but didn't get much. Nonetheless, I re-adjusted my compass and enjoyed the movie anyway. It could have been a menage-a-trois Romantic Comedy but that is over-done. Our link to the characters is not in the trio but outside with the character of the sister. The mistress barely interacts at first with the main couple. And we get to wonder why does the man stick to the tradition of staying with a woman which agrees to give him a family, rather than with a woman he loves, or at least feels good with. As the movie goes, we also wonder about the motivation of the other characters: why is the mistress content with her position, and what does the bride has to say, her who seems very shy. The sister acts as a catalyst in a situation where the status-quo would have normally remained. I like the approach of showing us real-life couples under the pressure of society, instead of over-the-top romances or melodramas. Nicely done. We have done a video review of this movie seen at the Nippon Connection 2020 Festival, which can be found under this link.
Rating: 7 /10