Fantastic Fest 2024: Yugo Sakamoto’s Baby Assassins: Nice Days continues to bring trademark charm and ass-kicking in equal measure

Courtesy Fantastic Fest

This is part of our coverage from Fantastic Fest 2024 in Austin, TX where genre films are debuting before they get wider release. Check out all of our coverage here. 

For the last several years, Japanese film fans have been delighted by the delirious writer/director Yugo Sakamoto’s entertaining and enthralling Baby Assassins films. Following the antics of two teenage female assassins, Sakamoto’s series pairs slacker hangout comedy vibes with inventive action setpieces. The latest (final?) film in Sakamoto’s series, Baby Assassins: Nice Days, keeps the hallmarks of what makes these movies special while leaning into darker material. 

This time out, our plucky Tokyo assassins Mahiro (Saori Izawa) and Chisato (Akari Takaishi) find themselves on a job in Miyazaki. The pair indulge in a mini vacation when the gig resolves quicker than expected. Or at least, that’s the plan until a sudden hit drops into their lap and finds them crossing paths with a dangerous freelance hitman, Fuyumura (Sôsuke Ikematsu). Determined to win back the respect of their guild, the girls join up with seasoned killers-for-hire Iruka (Atsuko Maeda) and Riku (Mondo Otani). 

Part of what makes Sakamoto’s unlikely franchise so enjoyable is how much of his films rest upon the shoulders of Mahiro and Chisato—their friendship and clashing personalities make these movies what they are. Their interplay is so natural and lived-in at this point that it seems effortless, along with their distinct predilections for either gunplay or hand-to-hand combat. This is also one of the rare series where none of their issues or squabbles deal with love or men.

Alison Bechdel would be proud. 

Mahiro and Chisato don’t have time for boys anyway, given how jam-packed Sakamoto makes their world. Expanding upon a tactic he used in the second film, Sakamoto spends sections of the story following the main antagonist, Fuyumura, allowing him to become a credible threat in the process, with a unique set of ideals and methodology. His style clashes perfectly in contrast to Mahiro and Chisato, leading to some of the series’ best fight sequences.

Baby Assassins: Nice Days’ expansion isn’t limited to its villain. The characters of Iruka and Riku both make worthy fleshed-out additions to the world. The same goes for a couple of fan favorites (whose presence I won’t spoil) who show up halfway through, allowing the tone of the movie to shift seamlessly between comedy, action, and drama. That flexibility allows for the interplay to go to unexpected places in the middle of tense situations.

This is a movie that has no problem grinding the action to a halt by making two characters talk for five minutes about birthday promises over a couple of stashed beers just so you can learn more about their lives.

That, paired with a fair amount of impressive fight scenes is BA:ND in a nutshell. The stakes may be higher, but Sakamoto hasn’t lost what makes his series special. 

That’s not always true for beloved action franchises (big or small). Bad Boys: Ride or Die struggled with that balance this year. Fast X was the weakest of recent outings. Even John Wick Chapter 4 got flack for being too long. Baby Assassins: Nice Days proves that if your director and actors care enough about their project, magical things can happen.