Rapid-fire action sequences and high-stakes thrills are delivered in Life After Fighting, an impressively made indie action thriller that introduces a new martial arts superstar in actor and director Bren Foster.

Australian actor and martial artist Foster has paid his dues, starring in numerous films and TV shows over the last two decades, the highlight of which was the action series The Last Ship. This wealth of experience no doubt played a huge part in the success of Foster’s confident directorial debut Life After Fighting, an Australian made action thriller that leaves many big-budget action films lying in the dust.

Set and shot in Western Sydney, Life After Fighting stars Foster as Alex Faulkner, a recently retired MMA champion who takes pride in his new role as a martial arts instructor at his (impressive) training centre. When Alex strikes up a relationship with single mother Samantha (Cassie Howarth) he is unexpectedly thrust into the fight of his life when Samantha’s ex-husband Viktor (Luke Ford) reveals his sinister side, leading to a criminal conspiracy involving child trafficking.

With its blend of old-school action movie storytelling and advanced fight sequences, Life After Fighting will win over action fans new and old. It is also refreshing to watch an action movie where you know the star can kick your arse in real life, especially in these costume-padded superhero times.

Featuring strong photography by Shane Parsons and editing by Paul Black (Love You Like That), Life After Fighting especially works thanks to Foster’s focus on the dramatic stakes of his story that parlays into the right amount of depth and tension in the fight sequences, which under the principle of “action as language” is filled with its own dramatic power.

Life After Fighting is an action movie first and foremost, and the fight sequences that Foster and his team have delivered are some of the best in recent action movie history: bone crunching, whiplash inducing, ferocious spectacles of speed and power.

Much like The Raid and Ong Bak before it, Life After Fighting marks an evolution in martial arts action filmmaking, while also delivering a new martial arts star in Foster who is sure to deliver more knockout films if Life After Fighting is any indication.