Title – The Shadow Strays (2024) 

Director – Timo Tjahjanto (Headshot)

Cast – Aurora Ribero, Hana Malasan, Taskya Namya, Kristo Immanuel

Plot – Young member of an ultra-secretive organisation known as The Shadows 13 (Ribero) gets caught up in a game of life and death after a botched job in Japan sends her back to Indonesia and on a course of mass destruction.     

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Review by Eddie on 15/01/2025

Indonesian filmmaker Timo Tjahjanto has been carving out a quietly building career for himself over the last decade or so with memorable outings in the horror and action space, so much so that Hollywood came calling in the form of anticipated sequel Nobody 2 that will see Tjahjanto make his debut in the English language space next year with that films release. 

Before that however Tjahjanto once more partners with Netflix following the mid-tier successes of The Night Comes for Us and The Big 4 to deliver another bout of blood-soaked Gun Fu and Martial Arts carnage in the form of John Wick like epic The Shadow Strays, another shining example of Tjahjanto’s ability to handle a killer set-piece but inability to craft a matching script or story to make his wild imagination come to life in an unforgettable way. 

Clocking in at well over two hours in length, Strays is a feature that unquestionably outstays its welcome, with its many half-baked ideas and characters all potential candidates for editing room cuts that should have been made but while the films script, character work and general plot all leave much to be desired in an overall sense, there’s also no denying that when Tjahjanto lets his action take over, Strays is far better than many of its other counterparts. 

This time around filling his film with many non-combat experienced cast members, unlike other efforts like Headshot or his most all-round effort The Night Comes for Us, Strays manages to make the most of its actors willingness to get their hands dirty with a grand mixture of close-range, mid-range and long-range action that is unafraid to remain unhinged and bloodthirsty throughout. 

Front and centre to all of these is lead Aurora Ribero who plays teenage “ninja hit-women for hire” 13 who works for a shady operation known simply as the Shadows and she is a revelation as the hard-hitting and industrious one-women army who takes her tale of carnage from the forests of Japan to the neon soaked nightclubs of Indonesia, gifting Tjahjanto with a major win for the film that he clearly is envisioning as a long-term prospect. 

With a tighter edit, stronger story and more well developed characters there’s every chance that Strays could’ve been a new-age action classic, a title that has been within Tjahjanto’s reach a few times now, here’s hoping Nobody 2 becomes that film of his that finally claims the prize. 

Final Say – 

A sure-fire win for anyone seeking out some unfiltered action mayhem, The Shadow Strays hits as much as it misses keeping it in the middle ground of success but you get the sense that Tjahjanto is going to have all the stars align sooner rather than later. 

3 gas burners out of 5