The Furious Unleashes Raw, Visceral Action at Its US Premiere
You can keep your CGI spectacles. You can have your digital doubles and weightless, wire-fu ballets. What I've been craving—what feels almost radical in 2025—is the sound of real bodies hitting the ground. The heft of a desperate punch. The palpable strain of a parent's love pushed to its absolute physical limit. That's the primal scream at the heart of The Furious, the TIFF Midnight Madness hit that's finally crashing onto US shores.
This isn't just another action film. Directed by Kenji Tanigaki, a man whose name is whispered with reverence among fight choreography circles, and shepherded by legendary producer Bill Kong (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), The Furious arrives with a specific, almost violent promise: to ground martial arts in the grimy, unforgiving soil of reality. And its first stateside landing is at Beyond Fest, on Friday, September 26, 2025, at 7:00 PM at the legendary Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles. Mark it. This is one of those festival moments that doesn't just preview a movie; it announces a reckoning.
A Father's Rage, A Journalist's Quest
The setup is a nightmare in a nutshell, the kind that bypasses plot and taps directly into the spinal cord. Wang Wei (a formidable Xie Miao), a skilled martial artist living as an ordinary tradesman, sees his daughter Rainy (Yang Enyou) snatched by a child trafficking ring. The police? Corrupt. The system? Complicit. So he does what any of us would hope we had the courage to do—he tears it all down.
But this isn't a solo mission. The script, woven by a quartet of writers including Mak Tin Shu and Frank Hui, wisely pairs him with Navin, a journalist played by the magnetic Joe Taslim. Navin is hunting for his own missing wife, and their alliance—forged not in friendship but in shared, white-hot desperation—becomes the film's volatile core. Together, they plunge into the seedy underbelly of a nameless Southeast Asian country, a landscape of criminal empires where every ally might be an enemy.
It's a classic setup, sure. But classics become classics for a reason. The power here isn't in the what, but the how.
The Tanigaki Touch: Where Action Meets Soul
If you know Kenji Tanigaki's work—from his award-winning choreography in Raging Fire to the Rurouni Kenshin series—you know his philosophy. Action is emotion. A fight scene isn't a diversion; it's the purest form of dialogue. In his Director's Statement, Tanigaki nails it: “In the age of advanced technology, the most powerful action is still the most primal… This isn't just a motion picture. It's an emotion picture.”
You feel that intention in every described frame. This is a film that reportedly pushed its cast, a who's-who of Asian martial arts talent including Yayan Ruhian (The Raid) and Jija Yanin (Chocolate), to their physical limits. The buzz from Toronto was less about specific stunts and more about a sustained, breathless intensity—the kind that leaves you feeling bruised alongside the characters. It's a quality so often missing in modern action, where consequence is edited into oblivion. The Furious, it seems, wants you to feel every impact.
The Beyond Fest Stage: A Perfect Home for Mayhem
Beyond Fest has always had a taste for the authentic and the audacious. It's a festival that celebrates craft, and there's no better venue for a film like this than the historic Egyptian Theatre. Premiering here feels like a statement. This isn't a niche, midnight-movie curiosity; it's a main event, a cinematic exclamation point designed for a crowd that understands the language of physical cinema.
It's the next logical step after its triumphant TIFF 2025 debut, where it undoubtedly left audiences buzzing. The combination of Tanigaki's direction, Kong's producing pedigree, and a cast that reads like an action fan's dream team makes this one of the most anticipated genre releases on the horizon.
More Than a Rescue Mission
At its core, The Furious uses its brutal mechanics to explore something profoundly human: the lengths we go to for those we love. It's a theme that transcends language and borders, which is perhaps why the film feels so intentionally pan-regional. With its international cast and English-language framework, it's built not for one market, but for anyone with a pulse.
It's a story about reclaiming agency in a world that seeks to commodify the vulnerable. And in today's climate, that narrative hits with a disturbing, necessary resonance.
The Furious: What You Need to Know
The Premiere Event
The Furious makes its US debut at Beyond Fest on September 26, 2025, at the Egyptian Theatre in LA. This is the first chance for American audiences to witness the film that set Toronto ablaze.
The Creative Powerhouse
Behind the camera is a dream team: director/action virtuoso Kenji Tanigaki and iconic producer Bill Kong. Their collaboration promises a blend of gritty, authentic action and epic storytelling scale.
The Cast is the Real Deal
Forget stunt doubles doing the heavy lifting. The film stars legitimate martial artists like Xie Miao, Joe Taslim, Yayan Ruhian, and Jija Yanin. This isn't acting like you can fight; this is fighters showing they can act.
The Emotional Core
Beyond the fisticuffs, the film is anchored by a powerful story of paternal love and desperate justice. It's a classic setup executed with modern, visceral intensity.
The Festival Pedigree
A standout in the prestigious TIFF Midnight Madness lineup, The Furious comes with a seal of approval from one of the world's toughest and most enthusiastic audiences.
I have a feeling we'll be talking about this one long after the credits roll at the Egyptian. In an era where action can feel increasingly sanitized and synthetic, The Furious seems determined to grab us by the collar and remind us what real stakes—and real hits—feel like. Will you be there for the first punch?
