AllMovie

Imagine an ugly future in which the government randomly selects individuals under the age of 24 for sudden death - and taps others to deliver the death warrants. Such is the vile realm on display in Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit, a dark and disturbing Japanese science-fiction saga from director Tomoyuki Takimoto. The dystopia in question systematically injects a lethal "nanocapsule" into the pulmonary artery of each newborn - capsules that remain dormant for years until the government activates them. Kengo Fujimoto (Shota Matsuda) miraculously manages to escape death in this manner, but receives a more ominous notice: he's been selected to pass out the 'ikigami,' or death warrants, telling each individual that he or she has only 24 more hours to live. Inside, Kengo finds the law repellent, but he feels powerless to act, and thus responds with complete passivity. At the same time, however, he must emotionally contend with the horrified and devastated reactions of each victim.