Huo zhe yan (2025)
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2025-09 to 2026-08
A mute handyman and a journalist must team up to dismantle a brutal child trafficking syndicate.
The story
In a city in Southeast Asia, a journalist named Matia investigates a local child trafficking ring, but she is captured by the syndicate's leaders. Months later, Wang Wei, a mute handyman, discovers his daughter has been kidnapped by the same organization. When the local police refuse to investigate due to corruption, Wei must find an ally. He teams up with Navin, a journalist searching for his own missing wife, Matia. Together, they navigate the dangerous underworld of the trafficking ring, eventually discovering the scale of the operation and the locations where the children are being held, leading to a desperate confrontation against the syndicate's leadership.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After a journalist named Matia is captured while investigating a child trafficking ring, months later, a mute handyman named Wang Wei finds his daughter, Rainy, has been kidnapped by the same syndicate. Because the police are compromised, Wei joins forces with Navin, a journalist searching for his missing wife, Matia. The two men infiltrate the syndicate's operations, eventually finding a lead at a fight club. After a tense standoff where they initially fight each other before realizing their common goal, they locate a facility where children are held. They rescue many children, but the situation escalates when the syndicate's leader, Paklung, and his lieutenant, Tak, launch a violent retaliation. The climax involves a brutal battle at a police station where Navin and Wei must fight off Paklung and Tak while trying to protect the rescued children. In the final confrontation, Navin is fatally wounded but manages to weaken Tak, while Wei delivers fatal blows to Paklung. The film ends with a month-long jump where the survivors honor the memory of Matia and Navin.
- First release year
- 2025
- Runtime (minutes)
- 113
- Production countries
- Hong Kong
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Kenji Tanigaki
- Writers
- Mak Tin-shu · screenplay; Lei Zhilong · screenplay; Shum Kwan-sin · screenplay; Frank Hui · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Xie Miao · Wang Wei; Joe Taslim · Navin; Yayan Ruhian · Tak; Jeeja Yanin · Matia Pham; Brian Le · Ho; Manatsanun Phanlerdwongsakul · Yadong
- Genres
- action; martial arts
- Themes
- human trafficking; sacrifice; unlikely alliances
- Tone and mood
- brutal; tense
- Premise and plot tags
- kidnapping; action-adventure
- Reception
- The film received critical acclaim and was noted for its high-quality, brutal action choreography.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 85 · scale: 100 · review count: 21; CinemaScore · score: A · scale: A+ to F
- Production trivia
- The film features a Chinese version and an international version with slight differences.; The stunt team was composed of Japanese professionals.; The production budget was approximately $20 million.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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