Ultra-Violent, gruesome, and cinematically striking
What happens when a young assassin decides to carve her own path and break away from her ultra-secret, ruthless organization? Award-winning Indonesian director Timo Tjahjanto’s latest, The Shadow Strays, gives us exactly that, as we’re served a delicious, ultra-violent and gory action-crime film that delivers all the way through.
The world of The Shadow Strays is set in a top-secret organization of assassins who move and kill like shadows—quiet, subtle, and unnoticed—until a head rolls on the floor while the body still twitches from the sudden onslaught.
The film follows a young assassin named 13, whose past interferes with her mission, leading to her mentor sending her back for psychological readjustment. While waiting for further orders, 13 spends her days taking psychiatric medication, working out, showering, and passing the rest of her time in a dingy apartment in Jakarta.
Her monotonous routine comes to an end when a little boy Monji’s addict mother, is killed by Ariel, the son of a politician. Ariel uses his connections with a gangster named Haga, and the incident is covered up with the help of his corrupt cop friend, Prasetyo. 13’s breaking point comes when her budding friendship with Monji is cut short as he is kidnapped by Ariel and his friends. Defying the rules of the organization, 13 begins her personal mission to find and save Monji, killing anything and everything that stands in her way.
Tjahjanto’s latest film is by far his most violent and gruesome, showcasing stellar direction, striking cinematography, and fluid camerawork. One standout scene captures 13’s ritualistic everyday routine on screen—the film follows her movements with impressive creative fluidity. At the beginning of the film, we see similar fluid camerawork when 13 and her mentor, Umbra, are on a mission to annihilate a yakuza clan.
Throughout the film’s roughly two-and-a-half hours, there is a diversity of craft employed, with various styles of camerawork, editing, and cinematography, depending on the scene, which sometimes comes as a pleasant surprise.
As an action film, The Shadow Strays outdoes itself with a myriad of satisfying but equally gory, almost barbaric action sequences that feature an interesting mix of martial arts, swords, machine gun wars with occasional grenades. Furthermore, it excels in action blocking—from thrilling, meaningful, close-quarters combat to all-out machine-gun-styled, open-space action scenes, Tjahjanto serves it all.
Despite being an action film, The Shadow Strays showcases an intriguing plot, creative storytelling, strong characters, and exciting world-building, coupled with brilliant performances by Aurora Ribero, who plays the young assassin 13, and Hana Malasan as 13’s mentor, Umbra. Even the finale leaves audiences wanting more, making fans of Kill Bill, Jackie Chan, John Wick, and similar films eagerly anticipate a second instalment. After all, when a shadow assassin strays, one’s either Dead or Alive!
Read More: The Shadow Strays Ending Explained
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Verdict - 8.5/10
8.5/10