Ghost Killer

Part of the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2026 - Knowing Me, Knowing You: The True Self in Japanese Cinema

Japanese title: ゴーストキラー (Ghost Killer)

University student Fumika Matsuoka  drunkenly trips in the street after an unsuccessful date. Pulling herself up, she notices a bullet casing lying on the ground and picks it up. When she returns home, she is shocked to see the ghostly owner of the empty bullet, Hideo Kudo, a legendary assassin who was recently murdered.

Terrified and in disbelief, Fumika discovers that by holding Hideo’s hand, she is granted lethal combat skills she never had. But Hideo has unfinished business — to find out who killed him — and only Fumika can help. Very reluctantly, she lends the hitman her body to investigate, but soon finds herself embroiled in a war between rival business factions and drawn into the orbit of Kagehara, Hideo’s former protégé who harbours secrets of his own...

Directed by Kensuke Sonomura — director of the acclaimed Baby Assassins series — with a screenplay by Yugo Sakamoto, this thrilling and kinetic action film delivers sharp humour, high- octane martial arts, and a surprisingly heartfelt story of redemption and unlikely partnership.

<Contains scenes of violence and abuse>