Kenji Tanigaki’s (Legend of Seven Monks, Enter the Fat Dragon), latest martial arts feature, The Furious, debuts in US theaters today following its acquisition by Lionsgate. Directed by the veteran action choreographer, the project marks a major international release for the Hong Kong action genre.
Taniguchi directs from a screenplay by Mak Tin Shu, Lei Zhilong, Shum Kwan Sin and Frank Hui. The film is led by Xie Miao (Ip Man: The Awakening, Fight Against Evil, The New Legend of Shaolin) and Joe Taslim (The Raid, Mortal Kombat, The Night Comes for Us), alongside Yang Enyou, Brian Le and Joey Iwanaga.
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The story follows Wang Wei (Miao), a father driven into a violent underworld after his daughter is abducted by a criminal syndicate. With the authorities unable to help, he joins forces with Navin (Taslim), a journalist facing his own personal loss. Together, they cut a path through a series of increasingly brutal martial arts confrontations.
The Furious premiered in the Midnight Madness section at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival in September 2025, before screening at major festivals such as Sitges and Busan. It has since drawn strong early notices, including a rare 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising its intensity and inventive fight design.
To mark the film’s release, CinemaChords spoke with star Xie Miao about building a character defined as much by silence as by violence. We also discussed how him playing a mute role informed his physical performance, pushing him to rely entirely on movement and combat rhythm to convey emotion and intent. Miao also spoke about the challenge of fusing his own tightly controlled fighting style with the wider mix of disciplines brought by the international cast.
