K.O. Review: UFC’s Ciryl Gane Leads Netflix’s Predictable But Visceral Action Thriller

K.O. marks the first lead role for Ciryl Gane, formerly a Muay Thai fighter before becoming a UFC heavyweight contender. He took on a few acting gigs before, namely the TV series including Validé and The Cage (La Cage) and also appeared in Den of Thieves: Pantera earlier this year as Pape. With an imposingly tall and hulking presence at 6’5″, he’s the right fit to headline an action role.

Here, he plays an MMA fighter named Bastien, where we first see him engaging in a cage fight against Enzo. The fight ends with Bastien accidentally killing his rival on the spot. Enzo’s family, including his wife, Emma (Anne Azoulay) and their son Léo (Maleaume Paquin), who are there during the match, are devastated by his death.

Two years after the tragedy, the guilt-stricken Bastien has already quit the sport for good, becoming a recluse while making ends meet working somewhere in a quarry. Then, one day, the widowed Emma shows up in front of Bastien and demands his help to locate her missing son. Apparently, Léo has been laying low after finding himself involved in a gang war, and the gangsters are looking for his whereabouts. Bastien hesitates at first, but soon agrees to find her son. His search soon crosses paths with Kenza (Alice Belaïdi), a vengeful cop who is hell-bent on taking down Manchour (Foued Nabba), the notorious gang leader who is looking to take over the criminal underworld in Marseilles.

Antoine Blossier, who also wrote the screenplay, sticks to the tried-and-true formula. It was primarily a story of redemption about Bastien is given a chance to make things right after causing the death of Enzo. Gane isn’t exactly the most expressive actor, and a role like this looks as if it’s asking too much from him. And yet, I’m surprised Blossier manages to make the best use of Gane’s limited acting to his advantage. His acting is far from wooden but decent enough, and he’s at his best when he needs to knock down a few assailants along the way.

This brings us to the movie’s most notable highlight: the extended action set-piece in a crowded nightclub. It’s hard not to have John Wick cross your mind upon watching the scene, especially given the nightclub’s neon-lit setting and techno beats filling the background. The fight is crisply edited and shot mostly in wide angle, allowing the viewers to appreciate the hard-hitting choreography. It’s nothing stylish but more of a raw, straight-to-the-point violent fight, and I’m glad Blossier understands that an action scene can be both dynamic and propulsive without resorting to herky-jerky camerawork and rapid-fire editing.

While the attention is mainly on Gane’s Bastien beating someone to a pulp, Blossier doesn’t forget to leave some room for his supporting cast to shine. This is especially true with Gane’s co-star, Belaïdi, who is no pushover here, despite her petite build. She’s a no-nonsense cop who can take down a guy twice her size regardless of using a retractable baton, a stun gun or a hand-to-hand combat style. She even displays a decent chemistry with Gane, and their love-hate interactions are sufficient enough for what it is.

K.O. equally benefits from a lean running time, clocking in at around 90 minutes. The movie culminates in a full-on assault in the police station as Bastien and Kenza find themselves surrounded by the heavily armed, trigger-happy gangsters. The overall predictable, cliché-ridden storytelling may be seen as a disadvantage here, but at least Blossier sets up to make a beat ’em up movie that is aimed to entertain, even though it doesn’t reach the level of greatness.

K.O. is currently streaming on Netflix.