Netflix, 2021
Korean, excellent subtitles
1h, 33m

Ashin is probably 11 or 12 and her mother is dying. She goes into the forbidden forest to find the magical herb to save her mother. Her entire village is killed in her absence. When she returns home to find everyone dead, she goes for vengeance. I’m not normally fond of vengeance movies, but this one held me. She belongs to a tribe of, I believe, Jurchen, who were from China and looked down upon. The War Lord likes her father and holds out acceptance to him for some under-cover work. When Ashin goes to the War Lord and says she will do anything if he will look into the slaughter, he uses her as a spy. She has a place to sleep in a drafty barn, and is spurned by the villagers. Her father taught her martial arts, and she watches the soldiers, becomes proficient in the use of a bow and arrow. (for fun, count the arrows)

The horror part of the movie comes in rather early, but I was too naïve to see it—the magic herb she found, turns the dead into zombies. We don’t really see them, until she uses it for revenge, and then it’s a delightful twist, worth a couple of good laughs, and makes for the perfect ending.

Kingdom: Ashin of the North trailer