Killing

Play trailer

Killing

2018

1h 20m

Action

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

100%

Tomatometer

11 Reviews

56%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Set during the tumultuous mid-19th century Edo period of Japan, "Killing" is the story of a masterless samurai or ronin named Ikematsu Sosuke.

Grant Watson

Fiction Machine

Here the immediacy makes this period of Japanese history come to life in a way I honestly have not seen before.

Rated: 8/10

Apr 22, 2023

Full Review

Panos Kotzathanasis

Asian Movie Pulse

"Killing" presents an impressive combination of meaningfulness and aesthetics that results in one of the best films of the year, and a truly worthy entry to the samurai genre, through its extreme, but quite realistic approach to the whole concept.

Dec 1, 2019

Full Review

Elena Lazic

Seventh Row

In stripping the samurai film back to its main components and placing it into a realistic setting, Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto crafts a potent and thrilling critique of violence and the traditions that justify it.

Aug 21, 2019

Full Review

Nathanael Hood

Unseen Films

...a decidedly minor key film in [Tsukamoto's] oeuvre that's nevertheless equally as nihilistic and nasty as anything he's ever directed.

Rated: 7/10

Jul 22, 2019

Full Review

Carlos Bonfil

La Jornada

Elegantly, (Shin'ya) Tsukamoto leaves the door open to interpretations, something that is naturally appropriate for Killing's undeniable condition of a modern classic. [Full Review in Spanish]

Jul 9, 2019

Full Review

Danielle Burgos

Screen Slate

It wouldn't be a Tsukamoto film without entangled brutality and sexuality, frustrations taken out in furtive masturbation, physical assault as lust, and other attacks on the flesh.

Mar 2, 2019

Full Review

Read all reviews

Greg J

This felt like a pretentious student film-maker decided to bring one of his favorite overly sexualized anime series to life. It forces the story to progress with overly shaky handheld montages instead of dialogue or anything meaningful. Skip this and watch Twilight Samurai if you're looking for a realistic samurai slice of life film. p.s. not kidding about the overly sexualized part. There's a scene of the male character masturbating for some reason. Also a scene with the male character choking the female character through a wall after she sucks/bites his finger. And a scene where a female character's face is fully covered in saliva. All of this felt extremely unnecessary.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/12/25

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Shin'ya Tsukamoto

Director

Sôsuke Ikematsu

Mokunoshin Tsuzuki

Yû Aoi

Yu

Tatsuya Nakamura

Sezaemon Genda

Ryusei Maeda

Ichisuke

Shin'ya Tsukamoto

Jirozaemon Sawamura

View more photos

Synopsis

Set during the tumultuous mid-19th century Edo period of Japan, "Killing" is the story of a masterless samurai or ronin named Ikematsu Sosuke.

Director: Shin'ya Tsukamoto
Producer: Shin'ya Tsukamoto
Screenwriter: Shin'ya Tsukamoto
Production Co: Kaijyu Theater
Genre: Action, Drama
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 2, 2021
Runtime: 1h 20m

Most Popular at Home Now