Tornado

"In the face of evil, become a force of nature."

2025 1h 31m EN

😐

6.1

MID

🍅

66%

FRESH

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

5.6

IMDB

★6.1TMDB · 114🍅66%Rotten Tomatoes●57Metacritic★5.6IMDB · 2,674

DramaActionWestern

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When her father's puppet samurai show gets ambushed by a notorious gang, Tornado vows to seek vengeance and forge her own destiny by stealing their ill-gotten gold.

“In the face of evil, become a force of nature.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

HuluSubscription

PhiloSubscription

AMC Plus Apple TV channelSubscription

AMC+ Amazon ChannelSubscription

AMC+ Roku Premium ChannelSubscription

AMC+Subscription

Sundance NowSubscription

Amazon VideoRent

Apple TV StoreRent

Google Play MoviesRent

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

Kōki
Tornado
Tim Roth
Sugarman
Jack Lowden
Little Sugar
Takehiro Hira
Fujin
Rory McCann
Kitten
Raphaël Thiéry
Mint
Alex Macqueen
Laird
Jack Morris
Squid Lips

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Maclean
Writers: John Maclean, John Maclean
Languages: English, French, Japanese
Countries: United Kingdom, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released last year.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, French, Japanese.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Maclean, shot by Robbie Ryan. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Jed Kurzel. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Kōki and Tim Roth and Jack Lowden carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "In the face of evil, become a force of nature.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt27721490 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Maclean directs. Robbie Ryan behind the camera. Jed Kurzel scores. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English, French, Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released last year.
2Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, French, Japanese.
3International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.
4Directed by John Maclean, shot by Robbie Ryan. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Jed Kurzel. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Kōki and Tim Roth and Jack Lowden carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "In the face of evil, become a force of nature.".
8IMDB entry: tt27721490 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Robbie Ryan
Original score: Jed Kurzel
Production design: Elizabeth El-Kadhi Brown
Costume design: Kirsty Halliday
Makeup / hair: Kat Morgan
Runtime: 91 min · 1h 31m
Status: Released
Box office: $213,499
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Tornado (2025)
Rotten Tomatoes: 66% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 57/100
IMDB rating: 5.6/10 · 2,674 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

2 nominations total

Also by

John Maclean

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-02-28
★ 6/10
To be honest, I was really quite disappointed with this. It all centres around the search for some stolen gold that has been re-stolen and hidden by “Tornado”, the partner in a father/daughter Japanese puppetry show that is touring the shires of late 18th century Britain. The gold was originally acquired by “Sugar” (Tim Roth) and his gang but as they stopped to watch the show, it was re-acquired by an opportunist urchin (Nathan Malone) whilst he was being watched by “Tornado” (Kôki). When the gang discover it’s missing, all hell breaks loose and so she hides the loot and the boy in their wagon and off they go. It doesn’t take long for the men to put two and two together and they set after the slow-moving visitors and a rather dishonourable encounter ensues. Meantime, “Little Sugar” (Jack Lowden) is tired of taking orders from his old man and has plans of his own to secure the cash - and that’s bound to lead to a conflict with his no-nonsense father. So now we have a brute chasing his money, a son looking for change and a samurai-trained woman out for revenge. It has the ingredients of a good adventure. Sadly, though, she is just not a very convincing actor, there is far too much meandering around the countryside setting and re-setting the scenario and there is a real paucity of pace here. It can’t have had an huge budget, but that needn’t have mattered if the the story had taken a little longer to develop a little more depth to the characters. It’s all too episodic and though it does mix the timelines a little to break up the narrative, there are too many characters who appear then add little before we move on. It does create an overall sense of a fairly poverty-stricken and lawless rural life, but once we hit the home straight it all just takes a predictable path to it’s conclusion. Nobody is really used to full effect here and though the bleakness is conveyed well enough, the story doesn’t really deliver.

Production companies