LOS ANGELES, Aug. 23 (UPI) — Ikatan Darah, which screened at the Big Bad Film Festival Saturday, adds a host of impressive, brutal fighters to the martial arts movie world. Executive produced by The Raid‘s Iko Uwais, Ikatan Darah depicts another thrilling corner of Indonesian action.

Mega (Livi Ciananta in her second movie) was a competitive martial artist until a dislocated shoulder made it impossible to compete. Don’t worry, it won’t prevent her from fighting bad guys who come for her and her brother, Bilal (Derby Romero).

Bilal got into gambling debt to Henri (Dimas Anggara), then killed Henri in self-defense and stole all his money. That only brings more trouble for Bilal, and on Mega if she wants to protect him.

It takes a bit to set up all the pieces, but once Henri’s brother Primbon (T. Rifnu Wikana) descends upon their village, his men block all exits. Bilal and Mega have to fight off killers throughout the village much like The Raid, but both inside and outdoors.

The violence tests alliances, too. Mega’s best friend, Dini (Ismi Melinda) works for gangster Boris (Abdurrahman Arif) so is compelled to apprehend Bilal too.

Mega and Dini pause to ask an elderly couple to vacate their apartment so they can continue their fight. Then the old couple takes out their hearing aids, oblivious to the mayhem going on in the background.

That apartment also has no ceilings so director Sidharta Tata and cinematographer Ferry Rusli can take the camera above and follow Mega and Dini between rooms.

Boris wields a weed eater at Mega and Bilal and the sheer length of the tool inherently changes the choreography.

The violence probably doesn’t top the Indonesian classic The Night Comes For Us, but there are cleavers in heads, stabbings through hands and the weed eater fight ends badly for someone.

The film introduces assassin Macan (Rama Ramadhan) long before the main village showdown. He attacks a sauna with many elegant cinematic techniques.

His first kills are only seen from the other side of a bathhouse door as blood sprays on the window. Another section is viewed through the steamed up sauna window, but the piece de resistance is a long take with the camera locked on Macan’s back as he kills several enemies.

Ikatan Darah really builds Macan up as so unstoppable that you can’t wait to see Mega fight him. And she finally does, so the two most formidable characters in the movie finally face off.

Tata and Rusli film some of the villagers fighting the gangsters with shaky handheld cameras. Fortunately, that style is only used to depict random fights. Mega and Macan’s main fights are always clear and easy to see.

Though the characters in this entry are resolved, Ikatan Darah does end with a suggestion of the larger gangster world who are now aware of Mega. It will definitely be fun to see Mega take on more, and see Ciananta, Melinda and Ramadhan in other action movies.

Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.