Have the bounds of puppy love been pushed too far when one high-school lover professes to the other that he'd like to be her dog? Kenji Mizuhashi has a crush on his kendo partner Tsugumi, who soon finds out it's not necessarily her that he desires but her dirty socks, underwear, and sadistic disdain. Initially infuriated, Tsugumi gradually begins to enjoy the feeling of power she holds over her fetishistic paramour, and their relationship turns into a restrained war of wills that creeps (in every sense) toward inevitable tragedy. Based on a manga, Akihiko Shiota's Sasayaki plays like a parody of a teen romance that teeters on the edge of ruthlessly dark comedy. While the film's artfully composed shots and deliberate pace lend the material some class, they also leech much of its comic potential: It's unclear whether Shiota intends Sasayaki to be funny at all, since the director treats the strange subject matter with a seriousness that favors its most familiarly melodramatic aspects. The film is filled with plenty of visual wit (Mizuhashi trots behind Tsugumi as she walks her dog) but little flair, yet the delicate portrayal of the enigmatic central relationship is interesting enough that the couple's sadomasochistic explorations become touching in their own way. Shiota also deftly averts what initially seems like a foregone and logically extreme conclusion, ending the film on a light note that somehow does nothing to dispel the heaviness of its obsessive themes.