Fantastic Fest XIX Review: Kensuke Sonomura’s GHOST KILLER Scares Up A Killer Thriller With Supernatural Delight

Ideally, if you follow a certain filmmaker favorite long enough, the possibilities grow even more fascinating in terms of tangential topical discourse. For starters, I’ve seen the action fandom opine over the connectivity of Jesse V. Johnson’s films, and chatter over what Jason Statham’s cameo in Michael Mann’s Collateral could mean. Even Hasbro is on the verge of finally coalescing two of its hit properties since Steven Caple Jr.’s Transformers entry last year.

By extension, I imagine a world nowadays where discussions could – if not already – begin materializing on the kind of tapestrial coherence of the burgeoning directorial work of action specialist, Kensuke Sonomura. Immediately with 2019’s Hydra and 2022’s Bad City, Sonomura proved his vigor and value as a cinematic storyteller capable of putting together quality action cinema marketable to audiences worldwide. In doing so, he’s introduced fans to a colloquial cinematic world all his own – one in which cities are riddled with assassins, cold-blooded killers, anti-heroic lawmen, corrupt politicians and businessmen all in shades of black and grey, and innocents caught in the middle of it all as chance heroes in the mix.

Of course, this is all in my head, and I’ll have plenty to say about this going forward whether here or elsewhere, and in proper meandering fashion. In the meantime, Sonomura is now three directing titles into the latest phase of his longstanding career in action and stunts, this time with the latest, Ghost Killer, a movie completely in its own space, but inherently open to interpretation regarding the aforementioned subject matter. To Sonomura’s credit, the film is a little different from what he did with his first two films, and further embodies his continued growth as a filmmaker with gradually increasing dimensions in his creative stride.

Ghost Killer reteams Sonomura with plenty of friendly faces and familiars, namely Baby Assassins franchise shepherd Yugo Sakamoto who also wrote the screenplay. Far from least among the lot is actress Akari Takaishi, debuting a solo lead action role since cutting her teeth for action director Sonomura on four of Sakamoto’s recent titles, namely 2021’s A Janitor, and the current Baby Assassins trilogy and upcoming TV drama. Additionally, we also get the return of actor and martial artist Masanori Mimoto, who continues to be one of the most valued performers today, including having appeared in films by the two directors.

The roles of both stars are drawn together from two distinctly different worlds by way of an action packed intro, followed by a MacGuffin wandering the streets from afar. The mystery is now afoot, at least for the viewer, which is more than we can say for Fumika (Takaishi), a regular college student with a lousy job and a less-than including dating outlook, to name just a few of her life’s afflictions. A fortuitous discovery one day suddenly finds her crossing paths with Kudo (Mimoto), an assassin now wandering the afterlife as a ghost, spectrally tethered to the panic-induced Fumika. With the mystery of Kudo’s death unfolding and the help of a fellow underworld cohort, Kagehara (Mario Kuroba), from Kudo’s organization, Fumika and Kudo have no choice but to work together if they are going to avenge Kudo’s death, and relieve Fumika of his grudge in the process.

Ghost Killer was a total surprise to me coming from Sonomura, as I’d been waiting to learn what he was up to after Bad City apart from any forthcoming work on the Baby Assassins franchise. That the movie was lined-up as part of this year’s festivities for Fantastic Fest alongside another of Sonomura’s shared credits with Sakamoto at the helm of late, gives rise to Sonomura’s continued fruition as a favorite among today’s cadre of action genre pros. What’s more is the decision to take a story about a girl imbued with the incredible fighting prowess of a ghost to fend off hordes of bad guys, and tell it through his own lens, feels all kinds of refreshing in seeing Sonomura’s career elevation.

Casting Takaishi for the lead role was a terrific choice as well. She’s not particularly someone as incumbent a screenfighter as her Baby Assassins co-lead Saori Izawa, or other actresses like Mad Cats star Ayane, or even Luna Fujimoto who has worked with both actors in the past year. Thus, Sonomura perfectly executes his ability to make Takaishi look just as good and convincing as her co-stars through requisite training, and choreography and editing that is both smart and thrilling without the frills that come with trying too hard (or not enough). Takaishi showed just as much conviction in her upkeep in Sakamoto’s Baby Assassins: Nice Days, which makes a movie like Ghost Killer all the more inviting.

There is plenty more to learn in Ghost Killer, including Kudo’s connection to Kageyama and other characters that emerge from the backdrop, and the most recent teaser proffers just enough to whet the appetite and keep you wondering. What you won’t be left guessing on is the reward that Sonomura leaves you with in Ghost Killer, and the paring we get between Takaishi and Mimoto, the latter who delivers nothing short of another stellar performance in action and drama as a stoic assassin seeking afterlife peace.

A standout performance by Takaishi, respite dark comedy amid the fraught unease of a human/ghost partnership, coupled with a style and flair of bloody and kinetic action that, in part, now carries an award-winning legacy is what fans can expect from Ghost Killer. The movie is a fun little aperture worth pinpointing along the way of Sonomura’s creative journey and the world he’s in the process of building, and it is a world I hope we will all get to see more of in the years to come.

Ghost Killer is a Rights Cube and Well Go USA co-production, and was reviewed for Fantastic Fest.