Meiko (Furukawa Kotone) confronts her ex, Kazuaki (Nakajima Ayumu) after learning about him hooking up with a new woman. Nao (Katsuki Mori), an ex-student, feels a certain surprise after an ex-professor, Segawa (Kiyohiko Shibukawa), still remembers her. Natsuko (Fusako Urabe) walks out of a woman’s (Aoba Kawai) house after an awkward case of mistaken identity. These are the stories in Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, a beautiful film that comprises three episodes. The first thing that strikes me here is that some of these characters move up while others stay static. The uneven power dynamics, sensibly, factor into the other reason why these characters stay in their respective scenes.

Even within hatred, deception, and mystery comes a romantic love between these characters with volatile, stunted histories. The longest of this film’s episodes is the second one involving Nao and Segawa, which start out quite innocently. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy even goes back, having two scenes to set up why Nao wants to meet up with Segawa and what her objective is. After knowing that Segawa still remembers Nao, the latter wonders what makes her more memorable than the other students. In fairness, their prior meeting is in a university setting where class sizes are small and personalities stick out.

Of course, a scene involving an ex-student and a professor can only go a few ways, this being no exception. Nao is there to seduce Segawa and record the encounter, which may just destroy the decorated professor’s career. But Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy is a classier affair than most in a film that, through its characters, feels modern and universal. What adds to Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy‘s universal appeal is the actor’s line deliveries, exuding a mystique. These characters, ranging from their twenties to fifties, have an air of maturity even if they’re acting without keeping their emotions in check.

The third episode of Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy exemplifies especially because it’s one of those ‘keep the other person close’ kind of an episode. On another note, most of the episodes in this film begin with setups and end with epilogues showing characters facing consequences. I don’t even watch Spongebob, but my brain is so cooked that the epilogues have the feel of that Nickelodeon toon. That’s true with the first episode about Meiko as she confronts not just Kazuaki but his new girlfriend. The same thing goes with Nao sending her incriminating audio to the wrong person which damages both of them. Most of these characters get the ending they deserve, most end up lonely but some rediscovering their true selves.

Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy is available to stream on MUBI, which-