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Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays an elite assassin—the titular Kate. [credit: YouTube/Netflix ]
A ruthless criminal operative is poisoned and has less than 24 hours to exact revenge on her killers in Kate , a new action thriller from Netflix starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who played Huntress in Birds of Prey .
The streaming service seems to be casting about for a female version of the hugely successful John Wick franchise, but it’s harder to pull off than it looks. First there was 2020’s The Old Guard , where Charlize Theron leads an immortal group of mercenaries on a mission of revenge. Theron was terrific, but the film itself was uneven. Just last month, Netflix served up the disappointing Gunpowder Milkshake , which had a stellar all-star cast and all the right elements, including some impressive fight choreography. But as with The Old Guard , nothing really gelled. Gunpowder Milkshake ended up feeling flat, predictable, and an exercise in style over substance.
The basic premise of Kate is a familiar one; it’s essentially a twist on the classic 1950 film noir D. O. A. , in which a man—a seemingly ordinary accountant and notary public—walks into a police station and says he has been poisoned, with only a few days left to live and discover who murdered him. (Due to someone not renewing the copyright on time, the film is in the public domain. ) It’s inspired three direct remakes: 1969’s Color Me Dead , 1988’s D. O. A. (starring Dennis Quaid), and the 2017 film Dead on Arrival . And the film has influenced countless more, such as the 2006 film Crank , in which Jason Statham plays a British hitman who has to keep his adrenaline levels spiking to counteract being given a deadly poison.
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