By Nakano Ryota, Her Love Boils Bathwater is a family drama evoking both laughter and tears but at the same time delivering a strong feminist message. Miyazawa Rie gives an impassioned performance as Futaba, who embraces all love and pain. While searching for her runaway husband, she realizes she doesn’t have too much time left, and so decides what she wants to do before she dies. She then makes it happen: finding her husband so he can make a success of the family public bath business, and making her daughter Azumi stand on her own two feet. In the process, Futaba has to confess her own secret. This is only possible due to Futaba’s infinitely positive thinking about life, her responsibility and affection for her family. Ryota turns the sadness of death sublime by making Futaba a strong and tolerant person, rather than simply a woman. The re-opened public bath will probably be warm thanks to her love, lending the title of the film has a delightful metaphoric charm. (KIM Ji-seok)