Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo

A dizzyingly prolific auteur who never fails to imprint his signature on every project he undertakes, Japanese maestro Takashi Miike (TIFF ’01’s Ichi the Killer) returns to the Festival with this thrilling contribution to a one-of-a-kind cinema legacy. Like Abel Ferrara’s cult masterpiece Bad Lieutenant (TIFF ’92) and Werner Herzog’s gonzo Southern neo-noir Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call — New Orleans (TIFF ’09), Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo is very much its own entity, not so much a sequel to its predecessors as a mood, a variation on shared themes, and a rollercoaster ride through the darkest crevasses of the Tokyo underworld.

The bad lieutenant this time around is a hardened, gambling-addicted Tokyo Metropolitan police officer (Godzilla vs. Kong’s Shun Oguri), who finds himself being investigated by the FBI after a politician's daughter (Lily James, Swiped, TIFF ’25) goes missing. The bad lieutenant and the FBI agent must collaborate to find the missing woman — while, unbeknownst to them, a crazed killer monitors their every move.

Written by veteran screenwriter Daisuke Tengan, whose credits include Miike's international smash 13 Assassins (TIFF ’10), Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo is an intricately plotted crime odyssey teeming with bizarre twists and unforgettable characters. Miike commandeers this wild ride with a characteristic blend of dynamic storytelling and shameless sensationalism. Whether coming as a fan of the Bad Lieutenant brand or of Miike's singular body of work, you will not be disappointed.

GIOVANNA FULVI

Content advisory: explicit violence, coarse language, crude content, self-harm