Forget twisters and twangy clichés—Tornado is not your typical “tornado movie.” It’s not about storms. It’s not about weather. It’s about one character with a blade, a plan, and a name like a warning.
This tornado film spins together a windswept samurai western, a grim revenge thriller, and a ghost of Scotland’s past, creating something more folkloric than formulaic.
What Is Tornado Really About?
Directed by John Maclean (Slow West), Tornado drops viewers into 18th-century Scotland, where a Japanese samurai puppet troupe crosses paths with a criminal gang.
Kōki stars as Tornado, a young performer who transforms from sideshow curiosity to sword-wielding antihero after a chance encounter with gang leader Sugarman (Tim Roth) and his twisted protégé, Little Sugar (Jack Lowden).
At first, Tornado is part of the act—fake blood, puppet limbs, stylised swordplay.
But when a theft triggers real violence, the show becomes survival, and the swords stop being props.
Behind the Blades: Production & Release
Tornado premiered at the Glasgow Film Festival in February 2025 and is set for UK release on 13 June via Lionsgate UK.
IFC Films picked up North American rights, with a limited theatrical run beginning 30 May, followed by a streaming release on Shudder.
Filmed on a tight budget in the Pentland Hills, production leaned into improvisation. Costumes crossed time periods, with samurai attire adapted for Scottish weather.
The result is a stripped-back, tactile film where even character movement—often on foot, never horseback—adds to the story’s strange stillness.
When Samurai Wander Into the Highlands
Set against the stark hills of 1790s Scotland, Tornado sidesteps period drama and heads straight into something more uncanny.
It opens with a travelling samurai show—puppets, fake blood, sword tricks—until the act spirals into real violence.
A stolen bag of gold sets things off, but the atmosphere suggests something deeper was already unraveling.
The gang that disrupts the performance doesn’t gallop in. They drift through the story on foot, like a curse nobody invited.
Tornado, the performer turned fighter, doesn’t chase honour—she adapts, outsmarts, survives.
Her samurai gear is less ceremonial, more weatherproof. Everything in this world has been reshaped to survive its setting.
Maclean doesn’t fuss with historical accuracy. He lets fog, wind, and silence do the talking. It’s a film where the landscape and the people are equally strange, equally unfinished.
And if you’re even slightly curious what a samurai film looks like when filtered through mist, folklore, and an uneasy stillness, this is the one to watch.
The Cast of Tornado: Sharp and Unruly
The cast of Tornado reads like a genre collision done right:
- Kōki as Tornado – The breakout star and emotional centre, with real sword training and a magnetic presence.
- Takehiro Hira as Fujin – Her father and teacher, worn down but quietly commanding.
- Tim Roth as Sugarman – A bandit chief with the menace of a noir villain and no patience for morality.
- Jack Lowden as Little Sugar – Possibly his son, definitely a loose cannon.
Joanne Whalley, Rory McCann, and a chorus of crooked outlaws round out a cast that leans fully into the film’s theatrical, off-kilter tone.
There’s humour here, but it’s more ritualistic than comic—“Squid Lips” isn’t played for laughs so much as unease. And that unease is where Tornado finds its edge.
