EDITOR’S NOTE: Randy Victor Ian helps cover the Japanese roman porno beat for B&S About Movies.
Director Tatsumi Kumashiro’s Lovers Are Wet is a more dramatic entry in the roman porno genre, following drifter Katsu’s (Toru Ohe) return to his hometown, where he vehemently denies who he is to those who remember him well. He gets into fights, sleeps with a married woman who owns a porn theater with her husband who approves of their dalliance, and falls in with a couple who he first blatantly watched have sex on a beach.
Ohe plays Katsu with in an understated manner, rarely getting emotional other than showing frustration and anger, although he professes love to the woman with whom he commits adultery. The main characters mentioned here all seem to be living varying degrees of carefree and perhaps careless lives, with unrest bubbling just below the surface.
As is expected in many roman pornos, there are rape scenes, so potential viewers should consider themselves warned. There’s one attempt and one actual rape, one in the sand and the other in the mud.
Kumashiro directs with verve, and though the characters are not easy to root for, Lovers Are Wet makes for an intriguing watch.
Lovers Are Wet is available on VOD and all leading digital platforms from Film Movement Plus from August 7, 2026.
