Kiyoshi Kurosawa teases feudal mystery in The Samurai And The Prisoner trailer

The latest from Kiyoshi Kurosawa opens in NY and LA at the end of July.

By Matt Schimkowitz  |  June 25, 2026 | 7:58pm
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Kiyoshi Kurosawa teases feudal mystery in The Samurai And The Prisoner trailer

Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa doesn’t take many days off. The prolific Japanese filmmaker released three movies in 2024, but only two have made it to the U.S. His dystopic eBay thriller, Cloud, reached American shores last year, along with his 45-minute film Chime. Meanwhile, we still haven’t walked his new version of Serpent’s Path, Kurosawa’s remake of his 1998 film of the same name. (Though the original got a 4K restoration last year.) Nevertheless, the Cure director is already back with an even more ambitious and epic new film, The Samurai And The Prisoner. 

Increasingly described as “samurai Columbo,” the film is a mystery set in feudal Japan, following Lord Murashige (Masahiro Motoki), who becomes a target in his own castle after rising against a tyrannical warlord (Bando Shingo). Echoing another Kurosawa, the new trailer teases a Throne Of Blood-esque paranoid thriller as a series of mysterious crimes sends Murashige spiraling. As the army approaches, Murashige comes to rely on a prisoner, Kanbei (Masaki Suda), who happens to be one of his enemy’s most brilliant and dangerous strategists.

The Samurai And The Prisoner opens in New York and Los Angeles on July 31.

 
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