When Sawa's mother and policeman father are found victims of a grisly double homicide, she begins a ruthless pursuit for the man who murdered them. With the help of her father's ex-partner, Karl Aker, and a mysterious friend from her past, she becomes a merciless teen assassin, blasting her way through the dark world of human trafficking only to uncover a devastating truth
Practical Effects
Gloriously messy practical blood squibs, the CGI couldn't dream of this.
Production
South African locations masquerading as dystopian Japan — budget resourcefulness.
Costume
Sawa's angel-winged jacket: peak 'trying too hard' anime cosplay energy.
Director
Ralph Ziman
Samuel L. Jackson
Lieutenant Karl Aker
Callan McAuliffe
Oburi
India Eisley
Sawa
Carl Beukes
Vic Thornhill
Jaco Muller
Mikhal Kratsov
Terence Bridgett
Staggie / Sascha Steyns
Zane Meas
The Emir
Deon Lotz
Detective Prinsloo
DeVille Vannik
Numbers Punk
Russel Savadier
Old Boy
Cassiel Eatock-Winnik
Young Sawa
Liam J. Stratton
Sawa's Father
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This is a live-action remake of Yasuomi Umetsu's infamous 1998 OVA, which was so sexually explicit that most countries banned the uncut version entirely.
India Eisley was 20 playing 17, but the original anime Sawa was deliberately ambiguous age-wise — the film wisely aged her up to avoid the source material's most radioactive elements.
ZA
