Bullet Train (2022)

Bullet Train (2022) is a 2022 American action comedy film directed by David Leitch and starring Brad Pitt as an assassin on a high-speed train. Adapted from the novel Maria Beetle (released as Bullet Train in the UK and US), written by Kōtarō Isaka and translated by Sam Malissa, the story takes place in modern day Tokyo. Yuichi Kimura, a grieving father seeking revenge for his son’s death, receives a cryptic message to meet his assailant on the bullet train later that night. Meanwhile, “Ladybug”, recently recovered from therapy, is tasked with retrieving a briefcase on the same train for their contact Carver, who calls out sick. Ladybug is apprehensive due to their recent streak of accidental deaths during assignments. The train also houses “Prince”, a young woman who injured Yuichi’s son, along with two brothers nicknamed “Lemon” and “Tangerine”, hired to escort the briefcase and the son of Russian-born Yakuza boss known as “White Death”. Ladybug manages to steal the briefcase from Lemon and Tangerine but is attacked by another assassin known as “Wolf”, who blames Ladybug for poisoning his entire wedding party including his wife.

The Wolf meets his end after a short scuffle when his own knife ricochets off and strikes him, leaving Ladybug in a state of shock. As she hides the briefcase, the Prince confides in Yuichi about a calculated scheme to bait him onto the train by pushing her own son off the roof, while also confessing that her henchman is keeping Yuichi’s son captive at the hospital with instructions to kill him if anything happens to her. In the meantime, Lemon and Tangerine comb through for the lost briefcase while another victim meets the same fate as the Wolf’s wedding guests. In exchange for safe passage from the train, Ladybug offers Lemon the briefcase. However, Lemon suspects that Ladybug was responsible for killing the White Death’s son, instigating a brawl that leaves Lemon knocked out cold.