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To kick this review off the right way, we’ve gotta roll back to 2005, when a hungry up‑and‑coming filmmaker first hit my radar: William Kaufman, with the indie bruiser The Prodigy starring Holt Boggs. It was rough around the edges, sure, but what Kaufman pulled off with almost no resources was flat-out miraculous, and that film has been a permanent fixture in my collection ever since. In the years since, Kaufman has carved out his place as one of the most relentless forces in indie action cinema with hard-hitting entries like Sinners and Saints, The Marine 4: Moving Target, One in the Chamber, Jarhead 3: The Siege and more. His command of practical action and stunt work, fused with precision tactical firefights and muscular, character-driven storytelling, is outstanding, and he’s built a rabid fan base that shows up every time to see what kind of carnage he delivers next.
That day has arrived, and it hits like a shockwave in the form of Kaufman’s blistering sci‑fi actioner Osiris, led by his The Channel star Max Martini (Lioness, The Unit) as Kelly, the rock‑solid commander of a bad‑ass squad of elite operators. This is a tier‑one unit: Martini is flanked by his Lioness co‑star LaMonica Garrett as right‑hand man Rhodie, Michael Irby (also from The Unit) as Reyes, Jaren Mitchell as Jax, David B. Meadows as Gibbs, and a scene‑stealing Linds Edwards as sniper Nash. These guys are the best of the best, and Kaufman doesn’t waste a second proving it—he drops us straight into the fire as the team runs a covert op that goes full Blackhawk Down the moment they’re swarmed and pinned by insurgents.
The opening salvo is a ferocious, breath‑stealing blast of cinema—pure kinetic warfare as the cast moves with real-world tactical precision in a sequence that can stand toe‑to‑toe with anything in 13 Hours (which also featured Martini) or, more recently, the Oscar‑caliber Warfare. Kaufman is an action maestro in this arena, and years of doing this kind of boots‑on‑the‑ground combat have sharpened his craft to a razor’s edge, giving us one of the best opening action scenes of the year. Where most films tap out after a quick two‑or‑three‑minute warm‑up, Kaufman knows we want to bathe in the chaos, so he unleashes a full twelve‑minute barrage of hyper‑intense battle fury, even letting Martini cut loose with some John Wick–style gun‑fu. Put bluntly, Kaufman’s opening set piece would be the finale in a lesser action film. It’s that damn good.
In the middle of this hellstorm, just as Kelly is about to call danger close on his own position, the battlefield gets ripped apart by the unknown—something tears through the sky, there’s a blinding blast of light and sound, and in a heartbeat Kelly and his men are snatched by a vicious alien race. You had me hooked with the twelve‑minute bullet storm, but now Kaufman throws in aliens who are every bit as tactically lethal as the soldiers they’ve captured. I mean it when I say these creatures are some of the most terrifying and flat-out awesome designs to hit a movie like this in ages. They easily stand shoulder‑to‑shoulder with anything in a bigger‑budget production and, in some ways, absolutely outclass the blockbuster competition.
When Kelly and his team come to aboard the ship, they’ve got no clue how they got there—but they’re suddenly carrying strange intel about their captors, which we quickly realize is no accident. After going hot on the aliens, the squad crosses paths with another prisoner, Ravi (Brianna Hildebrand of the Deadpool films), who’s been stuck there far longer and knows exactly what it takes to stay alive. What they learn is chilling: they’re livestock, fresh meat for the aliens’ table, and that reality does not sit well with a group of combat‑hardened operators trained to be anything but prey.
What follows is a relentless run‑and‑gun survival gauntlet as Kelly, his men, and Ravi maneuver through the ship, trying to stay one step ahead of their hunters while figuring out how to wipe them out with extreme prejudice. Partway through, we meet another mysterious prisoner, Anya, played by genre royalty Linda Hamilton (The Terminator films), who makes every second of her screentime count and tears into a killer Russian accent. Hamilton’s presence alone cranks up the film’s gravitas and old‑school action legitimacy—not that it was lacking—and casting her in this role is a total slam dunk. She’s absolutely channeling shades of Sarah Connor, filtered through a hardened European survivor.
With Osiris, Kaufman fires off a full‑on chef’s‑kiss tribute to the kind of movies that built his reputation, seamlessly blending genres to craft a muscular homage to classics like Aliens and Predator, where stripped‑down, pulse‑pounding action collides with horror and sci‑fi. Kaufman is usually known for grounded, gritty crime‑thrillers, so watching him cut loose in this larger, weirder sandbox is an absolute blast. It’s also worth highlighting that he co‑wrote Osiris with Paul Reichelt, and together they’ve built a world that’s begging to be explored in future sequels. This movie just peels back the first layer of something much bigger, and I’m all in if they keep this ride going. I’m steering clear of spoilers because you deserve to experience every reveal cold, but that final scene detonates with a revelation that calls back to a legendary ’60s sci‑fi film. The last shot alone had me screaming “damn you all to hell!”—and that’s all you’re getting from me.
When you make a movie about ruthless aliens, everything hinges on how terrifying those creatures are, and on that front I can put your worries to bed: these things are some of the most bad‑ass, feral movie aliens I’ve seen in a long time. One of the reasons I dug The Tomorrow War with Chris Pratt—beyond the explosive set pieces—was how savagely nightmarish those creatures were; here, Kaufman and company crank that up even further. These E.T.s are tactically sharp, moving and fighting with the same ruthless efficiency as Kelly’s crew, which turns the entire film into a ruthless barrage of military‑grade firefights. These aliens are legit and scary as hell.
This is a sci‑fi‑soaked beast of a film, loaded with special effects and CGI, but even with limited resources Kaufman and his team have crafted a visual buffet that easily rivals what you’d expect from a Disney Star Wars outing. I mean that. Shot after shot, I was stunned by how strong it all looked, and you’d be hard‑pressed to find a higher‑budget production that looks noticeably better given more money, time, and toys. From what I hear, the shoot lasted around three weeks, and that alone speaks volumes about the talent involved and the sheer blood, sweat, and tears poured into this bullet‑soaked labor of love.
The action design and stunt work are a brutal thing of beauty, each sequence more charged and testosterone‑fueled than the last, backed by thunderous sound and sharp effects that amplify every hit and muzzle flash. The choreography is sweat‑inducing, and the camerawork locks it all in with a tight blend of fast cuts and clean wide shots so you can fully drink in the controlled chaos. The hardware—especially the alien weapons—is spot‑on, and when the tracer rounds start carving through the darkness, you’ll be gripping your seat. My only real complaint—and it’s one I find myself repeating a lot—is that Osiris demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible with a sound system that rattles your bones. It’s getting a limited theatrical run, and if you’re lucky enough to have it playing anywhere near you, go. Immediately. You can thank me later.
To sum it up, Osiris is a top‑tier contender for best action film of the year. It’s a textbook example of how practical action delivers a more visceral, unforgettable experience. Yes, the visual effects are outstanding, but the stunts and carnage are executed exactly the way they should be—with practical, death‑defying stunt work and muscular action design. The cast, led by Martini and Hamilton, all hit the bullseye, and even with all the chaos and carnage, Kaufman still carves out enough character time to make you genuinely care who lives and dies.
The aliens are ripped straight out of a fever dream—tactically vicious, physically imposing, and radiating pure, merciless menace. This whole film hinges on the creatures inspiring real fear and dread, and on that front it’s mission accomplished. I always considered the Xenomorphs from the Alien franchise the gold standard for on‑screen nightmares, but these monsters tell them to hold their beer. They’re fast, powerful, and absolutely brutal, and the animatronic work is a standout, echoing the old‑school craftsmanship of the greats and paying loving homage to the creature creators of yesterday.
Osiris is a near‑perfect fusion of sci‑fi spectacle and brutal, tactically disciplined action that drags you through a high‑intensity hellride for 107 minutes straight. All I’m hoping now is that this film finds the audience it deserves so we get to see where this twisted, war‑torn world goes next.
VERDICT: 4.5 Out of 5 Stars
In a summer movie landscape crowded with oversized comic-book tentpoles, William Kaufman has unleashed a savage, fiercely executed sci‑fi actioner that drops you into an unforgiving, blood‑soaked alien war—a legit top contender for best action film of 2025!
