Inu-Ou (2021)

A stellar performance about an asymmetric dancer and a blind biwa player. It has a clear vision of how art lives and dies and lives again and how the the exclusion, inclusion, and “standardisation” of disabled people plays out in society. It does take a little time to find its feet, and the musical middle act did become a little overwhelming, but they eventually give the songs time to breathe in the final act. Nevertheless, all the music is fantastic. Meanwhile, the physical performances are given lavish attention and the imaginative out-of-their-time technical effects are shown in loving detail. It's a banger; you just have to hold on through the irregular pacing and accept that it's not going to neatly wrap up all the earlier plot threads once the real story emerges from the mix.