The Outsider is a 2018 action thriller film directed by Martin Zandvliet and written by Andrew Baldwin. A Japanese-American production, the film stars Jared Leto, Tadanobu Asano, Kippei Shiina, Shioli Kutsuna, and Emile Hirsch.
The Outsider was released by Netflix on March 9, 2018, and received generally unfavorable reviews from critics.
Plot
In 1954, nine years after the Pacific War, ex-United States Marine Corps Captain Nick Lowell is the only non-Japanese inmate in an Osaka prison. Most of his fellow inmates are yakuza criminals, recognizable by their irezumi tattoos. Nick saves a yakuza named Kiyoshi from being hanged to death; the Shiromatsu, a yakuza clan to which Kiyoshi belongs, repays his debt by arranging Nick's release. He is also offered a job: Anthony Panetti, an American businessman with a deep hatred for the Japanese, has refused to negotiate a deal with the Shiromatsu but has agreed to a deal with a different clan, the Seizu, because they sent an American negotiator. Nick goes to speak with him, but ends up violently beating Panetti on the head with a typewriter just a minute into the conversation instead, assuring Kiyoshi that he'll reconsider.
When a group of Seizu clan members arrive from Kobe to intimidate the Shiromatsu at their nightclub, Nick attacks one of them, nearly causing a shootout. Kiyoshi takes a liking to Nick, giving him an expensive apartment to live in and a suit to wear. He further entrusts Nick with driving his drunk younger sister Miyu home after he catches her partying at the Shiromatsu club. Nick spends the night with her and slowly gets more involved with the Shiromatsu clan, becoming one of their enforcers alongside Kiyoshi. He continues his relationship with Miyu and gets an irezumi tattoo on his back to match hers.
The Shiromatsu come under pressure from rival yakuza families, largely due to the aging Shiromatsu patriarch's refusal to adapt to the rapidly changing post-war economy. Kiyoshi sends Nick to the harbor to handle a black market weapons deal, where he is ambushed by four Seizu members, killing two. To avoid a war with the Seizu and as an apology to their patriarch, Nick and Kiyoshi perform an act of yubitsume. The severed fingertips are sent to the Seizu patriarch, who accepts them. Nick is taken to a countryside temple, where he becomes a full member of the Shiromatsu through an initiation ceremony.
During a sumo contest, the two families hold a meeting, with the Seizu patriarch offering his counterpart the chance to retire in peace by absorbing the Shiromatsu; the patriarch refuses and threatens him.
While walking home, Nick is recognized by Lieutenant Paulie Bowers, a US Marine on leave. Paulie remarks that Nick, his former captain, was presumed dead by the Marines after being sought for court-martial. When Paulie tries to blackmail Nick, he lures him back to his apartment and kills him.
Nick learns that Miyu was assaulted by her former lover Orochi, a fellow yakuza, but Miyu stops him from taking revenge by telling him that she is pregnant. Nick goes to Kiyoshi's home and reveals his relationship with his sister. Telling Nick that he is now responsible for keeping Miyu safe, Kiyoshi gives him a daishō, a pair of swords signifying honor. The two men then bury Bowers' body in the woods.
A few days later, Nick saves his patriarch from being strangled to death while at the tailor shop, but Kiyoshi is shot dead during their escape. It becomes clear that most of the Shiromatsu, including Orochi, have betrayed the clan and defected to the Seizu. Nick persuades the patriarch that war is the only option, and takes part in the assassination of several Seizu members. The Seizu patriarch calls for peace talks at the local harbor, which turn out to be a trap. Orochi kills the Shiromatsu patriarch, and Nick is wounded by a shot in the leg from a sniper. Shortly thereafter, police officers burn down the Shiromatsu club.
Undeterred, Nick travels to the Seizu clan dōjō with Kiyoshi's sword and demands an opportunity to kill Orochi. Orochi refuses to fight him, saying that Nick is only a gaijin (outsider) and could never truly be a yakuza. When Orochi hands him back his sword, Nick quickly draws it and cuts Orochi's throat. The Seizu patriarch intervenes and tells Nick to leave now that he has avenged his patriarch. Nick travels to a secure apartment where he has hidden Miyu under the guard of the few remaining Shiromatsu members. He embraces her as the yakuza bow reverently as he is now the new head of the Shiromatsu clan.