An unnamed bare-knuckle fighter (Dev Patel) slowly works toward access to an elite member's-only club, the leaders of which destroyed his village, in order to exact revenge.
It's a very striking movie, good visuals, solid grounding in reality. Very much influenced by John Woo, Luc Besson, and specifically name-drops John Wick but manages to weave in its own culture and not just be a knockoff, generic action movie. This is the directorial debut for Patel, who also wrote and co-produced, and for a first effort, it's incredible. It's not breaking any new ground story-wise, but it is a self-assured, confident outing.
The major theme is corruption, specifically using religion to cover a multitude of evils, which again is bog-standard but still really relevant in Indian society where there is a massive divide between the Haves and Have-Nots. Patel has been exploring that divide basically his entire career and this feels like a natural progression for him. But also big shout-out for bringing in marginalized religious practitioners like the hijra, a trans femme subset of devotees that periodically face crack-downs from oppressors.
It's currently streaming on Peacock.
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