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The Furious

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The Furious
Theatrical release poster
Traditional Chinese火遮眼
JyutpingFo2 Ze1 Ngaan5
Directed byKenji Tanigaki
Screenplay by
  • Mak Tin-shu
  • Lei Zhilong
  • Shum Kwan-sin
  • Frank Hui
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyMeteor Cheung
Edited byChris Tonick
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 6 September 2025 (2025-09-06) (TIFF)
  • 12 June 2026 (2026-06-12) (Hong Kong)
Running time
113 minutes[3]
CountryHong Kong[a]
Language
  • English
BudgetUS$20 million[8]
Box officeUS$42 million[9][10]

The Furious (Chinese: 火遮眼) is a 2025 English-language Hong Kong action film, directed by Kenji Tanigaki. It stars Xie Miao as an ordinary man who, with journalist Navin's (Joe Taslim) help, fights a criminal empire to rescue his kidnapped daughter (Yang Enyou [zh]). The cast also features Brian Le, Joey Iwanaga [ja], Yayan Ruhian, and Jeeja Yanin.

The film had its world premiere at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival on 6 September 2025. It was theatrically released in Hong Kong on 12 June 2026 and received critical acclaim.

Plot

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In a city in Southeast Asia, journalist Matia investigates an unchecked local child trafficking ring despite her husband Navin requesting her to return home. She finds trafficked children and fights traffickers to help a child escape. The traffickers' leader, Paklung, and his kukri and bow-wielding lieutenant, Tak, arrive. Tak kills the child and captures Matia.

Months later, widowed mute handyman Wang Wei is visited by his daughter Rainy, who wishes him to return with her to China. Wei refuses, intending to send Rainy back alone due to the dangers of child trafficking increasing and for own safety. Rainy runs off in anger, meeting a limping Chinese boy who lures Rainy to be kidnapped by human traffickers, led by Ho. Wei finds and fights the traffickers, but they ultimately escape with Rainy. Wei informs the local police, but the police captain, secretly working with Paklung, shuts down the investigation. The police then discover that Wei has an unknown past.

Meanwhile, Navin investigates Matia's disappearance by pretending to purchase children from trafficker Song, Ho's "father", at his fight club. Wei, recalling evidence tying the traffickers to Song's fight club, arrives there as well. A trafficker recognises Wei and alerts others to attack him. Spooked by the conflict, Song orders Navin killed. Navin and a hammer-wielding Wei fend off their attackers, then battle each other, before realising their common enemy and allying together. Analysing Navin and Matia's collected evidence, Wei discovers a lead and goes with Navin to Song's ice factory, where the children were supposedly held. Wei and Navin violently defeat Song, his henchmen, and a sledgehammer-wielding Ho, but the children are nowhere to be found. Wei and Navin torture Song via electrocution, who discloses that the children were moved to a location called the "Snake Pit" and that Matia is dead. After the two leave, Song tries to escape, but Paklung and Tak arrive to execute him. Ho later recovers and finds Song's corpse.

At the Snake Pit, Rainy attacks a trafficker, starting an escape attempt by the children, though most are recaptured. Wei and Navin arrive, fighting the traffickers and reuniting with Rainy. With Navin live-streaming through Matia's account and publicizing the rescue attempt, the public and police are alerted and arrive at the Snake Pit. The police captain has the police stop the public from interfering while more traffickers arrive to stop Wei and Navin. Navin instructs Wei and Rainy to leave safely while he fights on, but Rainy persuades Wei to help all of the other trafficked children escape. The police captain is overruled by his sergeant, Yadong, and the remaining police and public scramble to help. With Navin and Wei brutally stopping the traffickers, the public manages to save Rainy and the children, while Yadong manages to shoot a trafficker to save the limping boy. The surviving traffickers are arrested, while the kidnapped children are reunited with their families. Navin and Wei are held overnight at the police station's jail, with Rainy and the limping boy also present at the station.

When Paklung's father-in-law, a criminal kingpin, attempts to turn Paklung in as a fall guy to the police captain, Paklung instead slaughters his father-in-law and his aides, as well as the police captain, but accidentally kills his pregnant wife during his rampage. Paklung and Tak arrive at the police station for revenge, slaughtering most of the policemen and incapacitating Yadong. Wei and Navin escape from the jail cell to protect Rainy and the limping boy. As Wei and Navin duel Paklung and Tak, Ho arrives and attacks all the fighters. Tak admits his role in Matia's killing; Navin suffers fatal stab wounds from Tak but fatally bites Tak's neck. Paklung kills Ho and knocks Wei out, but not before Wei delivers fatal heavy blows to Paklung's head. Rainy and the limping boy prepare to defend Wei, but Paklung succumbs to his concussions before collapsing dead.

One month later, Wei, Rainy, the limping boy, and Yadong scatter Navin's ashes into the sea, while also honoring Matia. In a flashback, Wei's name is revealed for the first time by Wei to Navin while in the police jail. After scattering the ashes, Wei begins to tell Rainy his life story.

Cast

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From left to right: Brian Le, Joey Iwanaga, Joe Taslim, Yayan Ruhian, Xie Miao, and director Kenji Tanigaki at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival
  • Xie Miao as Wang Wei, a mute tradesman with a mysterious past whose daughter is kidnapped.[11][12]
  • Joe Taslim as Navin, a journalist and Wang Wei's ally who is looking for his wife, Matia, who also went missing.[2][12]
  • Yang Enyou [zh] as Rainy, Wang Wei's daughter[2][13]
  • Brian Le as Ho, a henchman of the child trafficking syndicate, and Song's "son".[14]
  • Joey Iwanaga [ja] as Paklung, a sociopathic son-in-law of a powerful gangster and the leader of the child trafficking syndicate.[15]
  • Yayan Ruhian as Tak, Paklung's second-in-command, and a bow-wielding henchman of the child trafficking syndicate.[16]
  • Jeeja Yanin as Matia Pham, an investigative journalist attempting to uncover the child trafficking syndicate.[14]
  • Sahajak Boonthanakit as Mr. Song, one of the managers of the child trafficking syndicate.[14]
  • Mimi Chu as a hair salon owner.[17]
  • Manatsanun Phanlerdwongsakul as Yadong, a police sergeant.[18]

Production

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The Furious was announced to be in development in April 2024, which is set to be primarily financed and produced by Hong Kong's Edko Films, while the project would be in English language and filmed in Thailand, with the American XYZ Films co-producing and handling world sales.[2] The production budget was reported to be roughly $20 million.[19] Kenji Tanigaki was announced to helm the project as director, and Mak Tin Shu attached as the writer, while the ensemble cast features a pan-Asian lineup, including China's Xie Miao and Yang Enyou [zh], Indonesia's Joe Taslim and Yayan Ruhian, and Thailand's Jeeja Yanin.[2] The filming crew consists mostly of Thai locals, while the stunt team is Japanese.[19] The actors began rehearsing the fight scenes a month-and-a-half before filming commenced, with cinematographer Meteor Cheung joining them a couple of weeks later to incorporate the camera work into the choreography.[20] First images were released on 23 August, with Vietnamese-American martial artist Brian Le and Japanese-American dancer Joey Iwanaga [ja] revealed as part of the cast.[21] In September, the film was presented at the project market of the Toronto International Film Festival.[22]

Principal photography began in April 2024 in Bangkok, Thailand, and spanned across three months.[19] A recurring police station set in the film was constructed and renovated from an old retail unit on Surawong Road, and was used for 18 days of shooting.[19] Originally, the ending fight scene was meant to feature Xie and Taslim fighting against Ruhian and Iwanaga, but Tanigaki liked Le's character and wanted the actor to join as a fifth participant.[20] Filming wrapped in late July.[19] In May 2025, American musician Flying Lotus was reported to be involved in producing the film's soundtrack, while XYZ Films represented the film at the Cannes Film Market.[23]

Release

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The Furious had its world premiere at the Midnight Madness section of the 50th Toronto International Film Festival on 6 September 2025,[24] and screened in competition at the 58th Sitges Film Festival and at the Midnight Passion section of the 30th Busan International Film Festival.[25][11] HK01 initially reported that the film would be released theatrically in Hong Kong within the same year.[26] In October 2025, Lionsgate Films acquired international distribution rights for the film outside Hong Kong, Macau, and mainland China, planning a day-and-date worldwide release with the aforementioned territories in 2026.[27] The film was also screened at the 2025 Beyond Fest in the United States,[28] the 45th Hawai'i International Film Festival,[29] the 5th Red Sea International Film Festival,[30] and as the closing film of the 26th Boston Underground Film Festival.[31] It was theatrically released in Hong Kong on 12 June 2026.[32]

The film was originally scheduled to have a nationwide theatrical release in the United States on 29 May 2026,[33] but was later pushed back to 12 June as well.[34] Lionsgate Films assigned the team of Lionsgate Premiere to handle the film's United States theatrical release,[35] even though the film itself still carries the main Lionsgate Films logo.[36]

The film has a Chinese version and an international version, which slightly differ in terms of storyline, scenes, and action sequences.[37]

Reception

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Critical response

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 98% of 151 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "The Furious detonates into a relentless, blood-soaked spectacle of breathtakingly inventive martial arts choreography, with director Kenji Tanigaki delivering a brutal, balletic action extravaganza."[38] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 85 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[39] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[40]

Chris Bumbray of JoBlo.com gave The Furious a 7/10 and compared it to The Raid (2011), describing it as a "kick-ass, crowd-pleasing ride" despite not reaching the latter's hype due to "clunky" dialogue, overdubbing, and technical inadequacies, but overall delivering a "sheer adrenaline and crowd-pleasing ferocity" with "dynamic and unrelentingly brutal" action choreography.[41] Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com wrote that while the film suffers from "atrocious" dialogue and "goofy" plotting, it features "well-directed and choreographed" stunt work by Kenji Tanigaki that delivers "the most impressive fight scenes in years".[42] Andrew Webster of The Verge also praised the film as an "absolutely unrelenting and bone-crunching action movie", particularly its "brutal yet balletic" fight scenes and the "inventiveness and playfulness" where "everything can be part of the choreography".[43]

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Recipient Result Ref.
2025 50th Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award: Midnight Madness The Furious Runner-up [44]
58th Sitges Film Festival Special Jury Award Won[b] [45]
Best Feature Film Nominated [25]
2026 6th Critics' Choice Super Awards Best Action Movie Won [46]
[47]
Best Actor in an Action Movie Xie Miao Won
Joe Taslim Nominated
9th Astra Midseason Movie Awards Best Stunts The Furious Won [48]

Notes

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  1. ↑ Currently, there are consistent and overwhelming sources showing that the film is solely a Hong Kong production, including Variety's listing of the production country as "Hong Kong" only,[4] as well as numerous film reviews,[5] news articles,[6] and film festival websites.[7]
  2. ↑ Tied with Obsession

References

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  1. ↑ Patrick, Ian Jeremiah (21 May 2026). "Indonesian action stars Joe Taslim and Yayan Ruhian set for Malaysia visit ahead of 'The Furious' release". Malay Mail. Archived from the original on 29 May 2026. Retrieved 29 May 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Frater, Patrick (25 April 2024). "'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' Producer Bill Kong Aims to Reset Martial Arts Genre with 'The Furious', Directed by Tanigaki Kenji (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on 10 May 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  3. ↑ "The Furious [14A]". Alberta Film Classification Office. 27 April 2026. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
  4. ↑ Lodge, Guy (11 June 2026). "'The Furious' Review: Dopey Dialogue and Dubbing Don't Matter in an Aptly Titled, Stunningly Choreographed Martial Arts Spectacular". Variety. Retrieved 18 June 2026.
  5. ↑ Multiple sources:
  6. ↑ Multiple sources:
  7. ↑ Multiple sources:
  8. ↑ Tassi, Paul (12 June 2026). "The Best Action Movie of 2026 Has a 99% Rotten Tomatoes Score and is Out Today". Forbes. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  9. ↑ "'The Furious' (火遮眼) (2026) – Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved 16 July 2026.
  10. ↑ "The Furious". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 10 June 2026. Retrieved 16 July 2026.
  11. 1 2 Ramachandran, Naman (6 September 2025). "'Crouching Tiger' Producer's Toronto and Busan Martial Arts Actioner 'The Furious' Aims to Revitalize Genre: 'Pushing the Boundaries'". Variety. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  12. 1 2 Vejvoda, Jim (25 March 2026). "'The Furious': Exclusive Trailer for New Martial Arts Thriller Starring Xie Miao and Joe Taslim". IGN. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  13. ↑ Fuge, Jonathan (3 March 2026). "The Most Hyped Action Thriller of the Year Hits US Fest This Month". MovieWeb. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  14. 1 2 3 Willmore, Alison (13 June 2026). "'The Furious' is an Action Nerd's Dream". Vulture. Archived from the original on 13 June 2026. Retrieved 13 June 2026.
  15. ↑ Rife, Katie (10 June 2026). "'The Furious' is Action-Movie Excess at Its Most Exhilarating". Inverse. Retrieved 13 June 2026.
  16. ↑ Evangelista, Chris (10 June 2026). "'The Furious' Review: The Best Action Movie of 2026 Will Punch You in the Face". SlashFilm. Retrieved 13 June 2026.
  17. ↑ Kwok, Ching-yin (17 June 2026). "【娛事者︱郭靖言】 《火遮眼》 港產動作暴力極致 五人互搏定成經典". As One Entertainment [zh] (in Chinese). Retrieved 17 June 2026 – via Patreon.
  18. ↑ Anderson, Jeffrey M. (10 June 2026). "The Furious". Common Sense Media. Retrieved 13 June 2026.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 Frater, Patrick (23 August 2024). "'The Furious': How Japan's Tanigaki Kenji Elevated a Steaming Bangkok Red Light District Into a Temple of Martial Arts Action (Exclusive)". Variety. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  20. 1 2 Earl, William (12 June 2026). "'The Furious': Inside the Balletic and Brutal Fight Scenes, from Mixing Martial Art Styles to Taking 18 Days to Shoot the Insane Final Showdown". Variety. Archived from the original on 13 June 2026. Retrieved 13 June 2026.
  21. ↑ Mack, Andrew (23 August 2024). "'The Furious': Our First Look as Production Wraps on Kenji Tanigaki's Upcoming Action Flick!". Screen Anarchy. Archived from the original on 23 August 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  22. ↑ Frater, Patrick (23 August 2024). "'The Furious': How Japan's Tanigaki Kenji Elevated a Steaming Bangkok Red Light District into a Temple of Martial Arts Action (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on 27 August 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  23. ↑ Ramachandran, Naman (15 May 2025). "Flying Lotus Boards Tanigaki Kenji and Bill Kong's Asian Action Epic 'The Furious' (Exclusive)". Variety. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  24. ↑ Merican, Sara (27 August 2025). "'The Furious' Clip: Joe Taslim, Miao Xie & Brian Le Lead Pan-Asian Cast in Toronto-Bound Action Epic". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  25. 1 2 León, Karla (11 September 2025). "Conoce la programación del Festival de Sitges 2025" [Know the programming of the Sitges Festival 2025]. The Hollywood Reporter (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  26. ↑ 陳穎思 (31 October 2024). "東京電影節｜洪金寶談振興港產片：香港電影圈而家氣候唔太好". HK01 (in Chinese). Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  27. ↑ Grobar, Matt (28 October 2025). "Lionsgate Acquires Hong Kong Actioner 'The Furious' Following TIFF Debut". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  28. ↑ Vlessing, Etan (10 September 2025). "Beyond Fest Lineup Includes 'Good Fortune', 'Dust Bunny', 'The Furious'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
  29. ↑ Shackleton, Liz (18 September 2025). "Hawai'i International Film Festival to Open with 'Rental Family'; Sets 'No Other Choice' as Centerpiece Film". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
  30. ↑ Goodfellow, Melaine (27 October 2025). "Charlie XCX Picture 'Erupcja' & 'The Secret Agent' Set for Red Sea; Tarik Saleh Guest of Honor at Les Arcs & Stephen Frears Geneva Career Award – Festival Briefs". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
  31. ↑ Mack, Andrew (3 March 2026). "Boston Underground 2026: Full Lineup Announced, Kenji Tanigaki's 'The Furious' to Close Fest". ScreenAnarchy. Archived from the original on 8 March 2026. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
  32. ↑ 許育民 (14 May 2026). "火遮眼｜《九龍城寨》武指谷垣健治執導 用血肉重拾港產動作巔峰". HK01 (in Chinese). Retrieved 16 May 2026.
  33. ↑ Rahman, Abid (25 March 2026). "Hong Kong Action Film 'The Furious' Releases Brutal First Trailer". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 26 June 2026. Retrieved 26 June 2026.
  34. ↑ DiVincenzo, Alex (10 April 2026). "Gory Revenge Thriller 'The Furious' Pushed to June". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  35. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (14 June 2026). "Steven Spielberg's 'Disclosure Day' Beams Up $44M U.S. Opening & $93M WW; 'Obsession' Bests 'Get Out' – Sunday Box Office Update". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 13 June 2026. Retrieved 15 June 2026.
  36. ↑ "Official US poster of 'The Furious'". Lionsgate Films.
  37. ↑ Ra, Ryan (15 June 2026). "谷垣健治《火遮眼》三天累積突破二百萬". HK Film Blog (in Chinese). Retrieved 16 June 2026.
  38. ↑ "The Furious". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  39. ↑ "The Furious". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 13 June 2026.
  40. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (13 June 2026). "Steven Spielberg's 'Disclosure Day' Beaming Up $44M U.S. Opening, 'Obsession' Bests 'Get Out' – Box Office Update". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 13 June 2026. Retrieved 13 June 2026.
  41. ↑ Bumbray, Chris (8 September 2025). "'The Furious' (TIFF) Review: A banger of a martial arts flick". JoBlo. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  42. ↑ Tallerico, Brian (12 September 2025). "TIFF 2025: 'Dust Bunny', 'The Furious', 'Normal'". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
  43. ↑ Webster, Andrew (7 September 2025). "'Wake Up Dead Man' adds a delightfully dark twist to 'Knives Out'". The Verge. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  44. ↑ Hammond, Pete (14 September 2025). "'Hamnet' Wins Oscar-Predictive Toronto Film Festival People's Choice Award". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 14 September 2025. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  45. ↑ "'The Ugly Stepsister', by Emilie Blichfeldt, Best Feature Film Award at Sitges 2025". Sitges Film Festival. 18 October 2025. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  46. ↑ "Nominations Announced for the Critics Choice Association's 6th Annual Critics Choice Super Awards". Critics Choice. 15 July 2026. Retrieved 15 July 2026.
  47. ↑ "Winners Announced for the Critics Choice Association's 6th Annual Critics Choice Super Awards". Critics Choice. 6 August 2026. Retrieved 6 August 2026.
  48. ↑ "Hollywood Creative Alliance Announces Winners of the 2026 Astra Midseason Movie Awards" (Press release). The Astras. 30 June 2026. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
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