WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Kate, now streaming on Netflix.
In Netflix’s Kate, the title character (played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is on a revenge mission against the Yakuza. After killing one of their generals, Kentaro (Byron Bishop), Kate got poisoned as she tried to finish off the head, Kijima (Jun Kunimura), only to discover she was manipulated. Her boss, Varrick (Woody Harrelson), was working with the Yakuza traitor, Renji (Tadanobu Asano), on a coup, not knowing Kate would protect Kentaro’s daughter, Ani (Miku Patricia Martineau).
This leads to a bloody finale as Kate finds an unexpected ally to help settle old debts.
Kijima Joins Kate’s Mission
Varrick eventually breaks the truth to Ani, who shoots Kate point blank in the head. Varrick takes the teen and heads off to mold her into his new assassin, knowing she’d need a father figure. However, Ani’s a terrible shot so Kate lives, but the poison (polonium-204) coursing through her veins outside the Hottazaka mansion is killing her.
Luckily, Kijima arrives as Kate didn’t kill him moments before, all out of honor and respect. It was her way of atoning for being a puppet, and thankfully, the Yakuza boss finds one of the syringes she’s been using to pump meds in her to keep going. They then join forces to take the deadly alliance out as Kijima wants his clan’s name and niece back, while Kate wants vengeance for what Varrick did.
The Big Beheading
Varrick’s angry that Renji set Kate up to be poisoned as the handler thought he could stop her from retirement. After all, Kate grew disillusioned due to her PTSD from knowing Ani saw Kentaro die. Renji doesn’t care, though, as he’s all about cleaning up the job so nothing traces back to him. However, things get wild at Renji’s loft as Kate arrives with Kijima’s army.
Kijima’s soldiers shoot up the place, allowing Kate and Kijima to get to where their enemies are. Varrick leaves Renji to fend for his own, culminating in Kijima finding his colleague and tossing him a samurai sword. They have a showdown but while Renji mouths off about being younger and stronger, Kijimi slices him up and beheads him in seconds, proving that experience counts.
Kate Sacrifices Everything
The final fight focuses on Kate after she shoots a bloody path to Varrick. She’s pissed that he’s holding Ani hostage at gunpoint, knowing Ani wants to get to Kate after discovering how she was tricked into killing Ani’s dad. In the climactic shootout, Kate and Varrick both shoot each other in the stomach once, which ties into the lesson Varrick taught her: a gut shot is a slow death and means that it’s personal.
Varrick bleeds out and dies on a chair, while Ani, in tears, cradles Kate’s dying body. The serum’s wearing off but Kate’s comfortable, knowing Kijima will now take care of Ani as he professed regret earlier over ignoring her due to her mom not being Japanese.
Kate also takes solace looking at a giant neon cat outside. It ties into the jersey she has on, which Ani got her. That moment midway in the film was one one of the few times Kate experienced true happiness and a genuine sense of family. It seems like this memory grants her a happy death, with tears coming from her eyes as her heart finally gives out.
To see Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Woody Harrelson face off, Kate is now streaming on Netflix.
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