Small, Slow But Steady

Special video introduction from Shô Miyake!

Introverted, sullen, and wildly skilled, Keiko Ogawa (Yukino Kishii) is a semiprofessional boxer navigating a largely male environment; she’s also been deaf since childhood, taking up the sport at an early age both to fend off bullies and to focus her attention on something tactile. Now in her twenties, and making ends meet as a chambermaid while living with her loving brother, she finds her greatest refuge in the economically struggling Tokyo gym where she trains with the aging Chairman (Tomokazu Miura), whose health is in decline. Keeping Keiko at arm’s length, Shô Miyake’s scrupulously studied portrait of one woman’s life, shot and set during the COVID pandemic, is an entirely physical experience, punctuated by moments of pure feeling.