Gonin

Gonin (1995) — watch online on iFILM — is a Japanese crime thriller directed by Takashi Ishii, built around five men with nothing left to lose who decide to rob the Ogoshi yakuza family in Osaka.

Their reasons differ: a nightclub owner buried in mob debt, an unemployed salaryman, a shabby extortionist, an erratic pimp, an ex-cop. No plan, no solidarity, just a mutual need for cash. The heist goes through. By nightfall, the Ogoshi clan sends two contract killers — one of them played by Takeshi Kitano in a quietly terrifying performance — and the film pivots from a caper into something colder.

Koichi Sato and Masahiro Motoki lead an ensemble that makes you pull for people you have no real reason to root for. Ishii shoots violence plainly, without glamour. Stream Gonin (1995) online on iFILM.