A sweet movie about a woman with a passion for cooking who learns to be a sushi chef, East Side Sushi is a super enjoyable time.
Specific passions can be very unique. You may love singing while no one else in your family can carry a tune or become an avid camper when all you’ve known is urban settings. It’s not really about the specific interests that we have, though, it’s really more about how we turn them into our reality.
East Side Sushi is the story of Juana, a lower-income Latina with a talent for cooking Mexican food at home, who applies for a job at a sushi restaurant. With a less-than-supportive dad who only knows his own culture, and Juana’s previous job, where she had to wake her daughter up at 4am every day, Juana works hard and eventually discovers a passion for sushi-making.
This is an incredibly sweet film. Light and satisfying from beginning to end, it is an easy watch. Juana is determined, her father is well-meaning and stuck in his ways, her daughter is cute and supportive, and the head sushi chef is endearing, as he sees her potential.
This is clearly a low-budget movie, but it really doesn’t need much more than it has. With lots of heart, you learn along with Juana how proper sushi is made. Sushi-making takes a lot of time and care – preparing the rice correctly, choosing the best fish, proper cutting techniques – it is not an easy task.
Sushi is also not traditionally a world for women. The owner and guests expect to see only men at the sushi bar in the front of the house and anything different implies that the quality of food or the restaurant may be inauthentic. That being the case, Juana’s options become very limited.
East Side Sushi is an entertaining family film that isn’t specifically comedy, but it isn’t drama either. A few tough things happen to drive the story, but most of it is an exploration of passion, tradition, and family. Take a watch, I think you’ll enjoy it.
Runtime: 106 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: PG
Languages Spoken In The Film: English, Spanish, and Japanese with English subtitles
Should You Watch It? Yes, it’s a good time
Did I Cry? Yep, I did
My Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Available: Free with a Prime Video membership and Tubi, to rent on Prime, or may be available for free on other streaming platforms
Specific passions can be very unique. You may love singing while no one else in your family can carry a tune or become an avid camper when all you’ve known is urban settings. It’s not really about the specific interests that we have, though, it’s really more about how we turn them into our reality.
