Zoku Shinya shokudô

This film tells the story of a small diner in Tokyo, which is only open from midnight to seven in the morning. It attracts a group of regular customers from many walks of life, and people get to see snippets of the customers' lives.

There are three main stories in the film, one about a woman who wears funeral attire to relieve stress, one about a man who has to learn the trade of soba noodles as he will inherit his family noodle shop, and an elderly lady who goes to Tokyo after receiving a phone call about his son. The stories are authentic enough and hence I think many people can relate to them. We can also see how people help each other out, even though they are strangers to each other. It's a heartwarming film.

If you like 'heartwarming' films, you may like this. Otherwise, not. It hardly deserves the name film being three unrelated stories stuck together with no link other than the eponymous diner. The stories touch on important themes but always dive back into banality. This is lazy film-making for an audience that wants to think there is a little place in Shinjuku you can call home. Another conservative Abemovie