Picture a world where big corporations have replaced the samurai clans, where loyalty to your employer can literally cost you your life, and where the open-plan offices conceal fighting pits. That's the starting point of Karoshi, a new action film produced by Chad Stahelski, the director of John Wick, and directed by Takashi Doscher, who also wrote the script. Lionsgate has just unveiled a first trailer that sets the tone: sword fights, spectacular stunts and buckets of claret, all in a futuristic, Japanese-influenced Manhattan, with an ultra-polished look — perhaps even a touch overcooked, if we're honest.
The title is no accident: in Japanese, the term "karōshi" simply means death by overwork, usually the result of extreme professional burnout. The idea takes on a particularly bleak dimension here, because within the trailer's opening seconds we see an employee throw himself from the top of a skyscraper belonging to his company, right after a speech about the devotion and sacrifices every member of staff is expected to make. The scene is set.
In this near-future Manhattan, Japanese cultural traditions and loyalty to the big corporations have profoundly reshaped society. And it's precisely after an employee's death that a mysterious outsider decides to infiltrate a powerful company and uncover the violent system hiding behind its respectable façade. The character is played by Teo Yoo, last seen pining away in the Korean-American melodrama Past Lives. The actor is a long way from his usual register and it shows in the action scenes, where he lacks a bit of conviction. But Teo Yoo looks set to prove he can beef up his game in this genre-blending thriller. And inevitably, Chad Stahelski's presence as producer tells us something about what's in store. The filmmaker behind the John Wick saga has made fight choreography and physical stunt work his speciality, and Karōshi seems to borrow part of that recipe, with confrontations that aim for authenticity, clean camerawork and plenty of graphic violence. One scene even shows the main character using a paper parasol to shield himself from the spraying blood.
Behind the camera, then, is Takashi Doscher, a young filmmaker handling both script and direction. His name is also attached to the film adaptation of Ghost of Tsushima, which Chad Stahelski is due to direct once he's wrapped his Highlander remake with Henry Cavill. The cast isn't short of familiar faces either: alongside Teo Yoo, the film brings together Isabel May (Scream 7), Takehiro Hira (Shōgun), Bill Camp (Presumed Innocent) and Show Kasamatsu (Tokyo Vice). There's also Giancarlo Esposito, best known for his role in Breaking Bad, and Cynthia Erivo, seen in Wicked.
Karōshi arrives in US cinemas on 5 February 2027. Lionsgate has yet to announce a UK release date.
