WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Kate, now streaming on Netflix.
Hollywood has been ramping up female-led action movies recently, as seen with the likes of Atomic Blonde, The Rhythm Section, Yakuza Princess, The Protege and Red Sparrow. Gunpowder Milkshake is another notable one from earlier this year, with it focusing on Karen Gillan's Sam as she protects a young girl during a revenge mission. And while Netflix's Kate follows a similar path with Mary Elizabeth Winstead's Kate, the two movies share more than just a common theme of mentorship.
In Gunpowder Milkshake, Sam has to take care of Emily, a girl who falls into the crosshairs of the Firm after her father dies. It becomes a clean-up job for the sinister company, but Sam wants to ensure there's no more collateral damage to people like Emily. However, the kicker is that Sam's the one who killed Emily's dad, and she only undertakes the guardian role out of guilt.
Sam had no choice to kill the man because he stole from the Firm, meaning it was nothing more than a job to her. But little did she know, goons were blackmailing the dad to get rich, knowing he had access to the Firm's funds. Sam would carry this angst on after rescuing Emily to atone, eventually slaughtering her way through the thugs before setting her sights on the Firm, which didn't appreciate how she botched the mission. After the mission's over, Sam apologizes for the cruel fate hand dealt them, but Emily forgives her and joins Sam's family.
Kate uses the same twist when the titular character's hit in the opening act is to kill Kentaro, a Yakuza general. Unfortunately, it happens in front of his daughter, Ani, and the girl soon gets pulled into a conspiracy. Kate gets poisoned as part of a clean-up job during a Yakuza coup, and it leads to her trying to make sure they don't kill Ani. Kate takes the girl under her wing, but like Sam, she hides what she did in the first place to endanger her.
And the guilt propels Kate even further when she discovers her own handler, Varrick, was using her as a tool so he and the Yakuza's Renji could reshape the clan into their own organization. The only difference is that Kate's secret is spilled by Varrick to get Ani to turn on her mentor, adding a twist to the bloody tale of assassin and apprentice.
But ultimately, both Kate and Gunpowder Milkshake house the same lesson about getting a second chance, with Kate and Ani using each other to fill that familial gap in their lives. Ani ends up forgiving Kate after the final act as well, only in her case, there's no happy ending because Kate dies. However, Ani does get closure because she knows Varrick manipulated Kate, which is why she can let go of the hate like Emily did and move on.
To see how Netflix's latest action film compares to Gunpowder Milkshake, Kate is now streaming.