Film

The Assassin

Name: The Assassin
Genre: Action, Adventure, History
Released: 2015
Cast: Shu Qi, Chang Chen, Zhou Yun, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Ni Dahong

Other titles called The Assassin: the 2025 series (Prime Video).

Hou Hsiao-hsien's ninth-century martial arts masterpiece trades action spectacle for intimate psychological drama. Shu Qi plays an assassin returned to her homeland after thirteen years, forced to confront family and the man she was meant to kill. Ravishingly composed, deliberately paced, it's for viewers who prize mood and visual poetry over fight choreography.

TMDb rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you care more about stillness, painterly compositions and slow-burning emotion than about sword fights, and you'll happily let a long silent frame do the talking.

Skip it if you want clear plot momentum or frequent fight choreography, because the story is oblique and many scenes linger on silence and costume rather than explaining what is going on.

What it asks of you: Patience above all: it is slow and sparse, with long pauses and little dialogue, and it rewards close attention to faces, screens and silences rather than rapid cutting.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon2000

Ang Lee's definitive wuxia film balances philosophical depth with breathtaking action, exploring duty, desire and the cost of martial discipline through a woman warrior's eyes.

But Its popularity means you may feel you've already seen it, and its narrative is more straightforward than The Assassin's elliptical approach.

A Touch of Zen1970

King Hu's pioneering martial arts film shares The Assassin's obsession with visual composition and internal conflict. A recluse is drawn into violence that transforms him morally and spiritually.

But At over three hours and in black-and-white, it demands patience, and the pacing makes The Assassin look brisk.

Hero2002

Zhang Yimou's visually stunning tale of an assassin and a king explores sacrifice and the lies we tell ourselves. Gorgeous, meditative, and anchored by genuine emotional stakes.

But Its twist divides viewers. Some find it brilliant; others feel manipulated by the final revelation.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Assassin

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

In the Mood for Love2000

Both films believe that what you don't show—the assassin who can't kill, the lovers who can't touch—is where the real drama lives. Both are formally daring works about paralysis masquerading as grace.

Wong Kar-wai's ravishing film about two neighbors who discover their spouses are having an affair uses color, mirrors, and repetition to explore longing and what remains unspoken—precisely The Assassin's emotional register.

But It's more interested in atmosphere and visual beauty than plot; some see it as style without substance.

Woman in the Dunes1964

Hiroshi Teshigahara's hypnotic film traps a man in quicksand with a widow, exploring entrapment and complicity through repetition and ritual—thematically aligned with Yinniang's internal prison.

But Almost entirely confined to one setting, it's more conceptual than narrative, which can feel claustrophobic rather than gripping.

Harakiri1962

Masaki Kobayashi's masterpiece dismantles samurai honor codes through a widower's grief and rage. Like The Assassin, it interrogates duty and questions whether loyalty serves justice or cruelty.

But Grueling and bleak, it offers no catharsis—some viewers find it exhausting rather than cathartic.

Two Years at Sea2012

Ben Rivers' poetic documentary about a man living in Scottish isolation shares The Assassin's formal rigor and interest in emotional quietness. Hypnotic and meditative, it asks what solitude reveals.

But There's virtually no plot or dialogue. If you need narrative momentum, you'll find it frustrating.

Memories of Murder2003

Bong Joon-ho's serial killer thriller melds genre thrills with character study, examining obsession, duty and moral corruption in ways that resonate with The Assassin's themes.

But It's grittier and more violent than The Assassin, and its ending frustrates viewers seeking resolution.

The Pillow Book1995

Peter Greenaway's visually baroque meditation on desire and betrayal uses words and images as weapons. Like The Assassin, it prizes visual composition and emotional restraint over conventional storytelling.

But It's aggressively artificial and can feel pretentious; some viewers find style overwhelming substance.

Still Walking2008

Hirokazu Kore-eda's intimate drama about family guilt and unspoken resentment echoes The Assassin's psychological depth. Quiet, moving, about the weight of the past.

But It's entirely domestic and plotless. If you want action or external conflict, look elsewhere.

Stalker1979

Both films are structured as physical journeys toward spiritual or moral reckoning. Both use landscape and silence to suggest interior states. Both ask: can you complete a task that contradicts who you are?

Andrei Tarkovsky's slow science-fiction meditation follows a guide leading a man through a mysterious zone toward a room that grants wishes. A journey toward an impossible choice, steeped in moral ambiguity.

But At 163 minutes with minimal action and philosophical monologue, it's a test of patience; many viewers find it impenetrable.

A Prophet2009

Both dramatize how systems—whether a convent or a prison—transform people into instruments of someone else's will. Both ask what remains of the self after such indoctrination.

Jacques Audiard's prison drama follows a teenager's transformation from victim to manipulator. Visceral, propulsive, and about how circumstance manufactures assassins—the inverse of The Assassin's mythic register.

But It's violent and brutal in ways The Assassin transcends through formalism. Some viewers find its worldview pitiless.