Taglines: There’s No Time For Mercy.
Kate (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is an assassin and expert sniper who eliminates targets chosen by her trusted mentor and handler, Varrick. After she was left orphaned as a child, Varrick raised her as a father figure, giving her extensive training in weapons and combat and eventually inducting her into his private team of wetwork specialists.
As the film opens, Kate is in Osaka to kill an officer of a powerful yakuza syndicate, readying herself with her rifle in a vantage point. The syndicate member steps out of his car and presents himself as a target, but Kate resists taking the shot because a child has unexpectedly accompanied him. She ultimately shoots the target at Varrick’s insistence. While Kate’s assignment is a success, this breach of her personal code to not kill in the presence of children leaves her in emotional turmoil. She tells Varrick that she will do one final mission, and then retire so she can start a new life.
Before the final mission, Kate meets a charismatic stranger, Stephen, at her hotel’s bar. The pair share a bottle of wine and have sex in her room. Later, while preparing her sniper’s nest, she starts getting symptoms of dizziness that cause her to miss the shot. Kate realizes that Stephen poisoned her, and after crashing her car, wakes up in a hospital to learn that she has acute radiation poisoning caused by Polonium-204 and only twenty-four hours to live. She steals injectable stimulant drugs and a gun and sets out to exact revenge on whoever poisoned her.
Kate tracks down Stephen and his girlfriend, and learns that they were strong-armed into poisoning her by Sato, a yakuza affiliated with the Kijima crime family. Kate finds Sato at a luxury restaurant and kills him along with dozens of armed yakuza. Desperate for information about the reclusive, well-guarded Boss Kijima, who she thinks might be behind the poisoning, she kidnaps Ani, Kijima’s biracial niece. Kate realizes that Ani is the girl who saw her father die during the Osaka mission.
Kate is a 2021 American action thriller film directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan and written by Umair Aleem. The film stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Miku Martineau, Woody Harrelson, Tadanobu Asano, Michiel Huisman, Miyavi, and Jun Kunimura. The film follows Kate (Winstead), an assassin, whose mentor and handler (Harrelson) assigns her to kill a high-ranking yakuza boss. During Kate’s final mission, she finds out that she has been poisoned and only has 24 hours to live, so she uses her last hours to get revenge and find out who set her up. It was released on September 10, 2021, by Netflix.
The soundtrack of Netflix’s Kate is filled with upbeat Japanese pop & rock tunes that sharply contrast with the film’s dark themes. Here’s every song.
The soundtrack for Netflix’s Kate is filled with upbeat pop and rock songs that sharply contrast with the film’s dark themes. Kate follows a Tokyo assassin of the same name (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who learns she’s been fatally poisoned. In her final hours, Kate tries to enact revenge on those responsible.
After starring in films like 10 Cloverfield Lane and Birds of Prey, in which she played Huntress, Mary Elizabeth Winstead is no stranger to the role of a brooding action hero. However, this movie takes the brooding to new levels as Kate brutally stops anyone who gets in her way. The violent action scenes clash humorously with the peppy soundtrack–for example, a car chase scene in which Kate tries unsuccessfully to turn off her car’s stereo, which stubbornly continues to blast an upbeat rock song as she concentrates on staying alive.
The soundtrack also reflects the Japan setting of the revenge action movie. Japanese pop and rock songs play throughout the film, including multiple tracks from the band Band-Maid, who also have a cameo appearance as themselves. Another Japanese musical artist, MIYAVI, appears in the movie as Jojima. Along with acting, MIYAVI is a successful guitarist, singer-songwriter, and record producer, though he, unfortunately, does not perform in this movie. Regardless, the music choices add some much-needed levity to an otherwise dark film. Here’s every song that plays in Kate.
Jojima wears a leopard print silk robe in Kate
“Secret Vanilla” by Okinawa Electric Girl Saya – This Japanese pop song plays during the movie’s opening as a bright pink truck drives through the city of Osaka, Japan.
“I’m a Pop” by Chanmina – “I’m a Pop” starts to play when the title flashes on the screen and during the establishing shots of Tokyo ten months after the opening scene. It plays again when Kate threatens Kijima (Jun Kunimura)’s niece, Ani (Miku Patricia Martineau).
“Blooming” by BAND-MAID – “Blooming” blares from the speakers when Kate steals a car after the failed hit on Kijima.
“O O I A H” by OOIOO – “O O I A H” plays as Kate shops in a convenience store and stocks up on supplies in preparation to visit the Black Lizard.
“Choose Me” by BAND-MAID – “Choose Me” plays when Kate crashes a concert looking for Ani. The band makes a cameo appearance performing their song.
“#Yappamotto” by Sakurako Ohara – “#Yappamotto” plays in the background when Kate and Ani bond at a diner.
“Shounanzoku – Cannibal Coast” by Aural Vampire – This song plays when Ani accidentally turns on the music at Jojima’s penthouse.
“Girls It Ain’t Easy” by MoNa a.k.a. Sad Girl – “Girls It Ain’t Easy” plays when Kijima and Kate go after Varrick (Woody Harrelson) and Ani.
“Kinjitou” by Reol – “Kinjitou” plays during the end credits.
Kate (2021)
Directed by: Cedric Nicolas-Troyan
Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Amelia Crouch, Ava Caryofyllis, Gemma Brooke Allen, Miku Martineau, Woody Harrelson, Tadanobu Asano, Jun Kunimura, Michiel Huisman, Miyavi, Kazuya Tanabe
Screenplay by: Umair Aleem
Production Design by: Dominic Watkins
Cinematography by: Lyle Vincent
Film Editing by: Sandra Montiel, Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir
Costume Design by: Audrey Fisher, Nirachara Wannalai
Set Decoration by: Daniel Birt
Art Direction by: Katsuya Imai, Miyuki Kitagawa, Scott Meehan
Music by: Nathan Barr
MPAA Rating: R for strong bloody violence and language throughout.
Distributed by: Netflix
Release Date: September 10, 2021
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