A night of partying takes a dark, violent turn in Kick On, playing at Fantastic Fest 2026.
The Australian action crime thriller Kick On is a nasty bit of business. That sentiment is meant in the most complimentary of ways. Dark, violent, gory, unrelentingly bleak, and electrifying in the way that the best contained piece of pot-boiling action cinema can be.
A group of friends (led by Markella Kavenagh) is out on their night of clubbing with a brawl at a local bar. Kicked out with nothing else to do, they want a place to party. Enter Ray (Nikolai Nikolaeff), a “friend of a friend” who may be the connect for the drugs they want. What is supposed to be a quick turnaround turns into a nightmare scenario with the friends fighting for their lives against Ray and his group of gangsters.
Anyone who loves the brutality of something like Jeremy Saulnier’s neo-classic Green Room will be right at home with Kick On’s sensibilities. A mixture of horror and action, the movie revels in surprising ways the film manages to put its protagonists in jeopardy. Director Nick Kozakis and writer Philip Klimek ensure that the film is not a one-sided affair, with both the friends’ and gangsters’ stories unfolding. Part of the brilliance of the film is that these friends are very much outmatched and outsmarted at every turn, as would be the situation, and it’s only by sheer force of will they manage to push forward.
Kick On may not be for everyone; the gore quotient is high, with some spectacular cringe-inducing gags, but those who vibe with its harder edges may find a new favorite.