Now Streaming: Timo Tjahjanto, Before NOBODY 2

This week sees the release of Nobody 2, a sequel to an action thriller that was modestly budgeted and enjoyed unexpected box office success smack dab in the middle of a global pandemic. Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul) reprises his starring role as an ordinary family man whose true, deadly identity is steadily revealed.

In the sequel, Odenkirk and his wife (Connie Nielsen) head off on vacation, where more secrets are due to be revealed. Christopher Lloyd, Colin Salmon, Michael Ironside, and RZA reprise their roles, with the addition of Sharon Stone and Colin Hanks.

The biggest addition in our eyes is a new director, none other than site favorite Timo Tjahjanto, which made us very happy when we heard the news last year. As I wrote jokingly in my review of The Night Comes For Us (2018): "All you need is a girl, a gun, and 30 million gallons of blood."

Copious amounts of blood do you no good is you don't know what to do with it, of course, and Timo Tjahjanto has consistently proven that he knows how to effectively use the cinematic arts, whether he's making tales of chilling horror, crafting action thrillers, or devising new ways to stage bloody scenes of emotional disaster and bodily dismemberment.

In collaboration with Kimo Stamboel -- with the directors billed as The Mo Brothers -- their short film Dara first caught attention. Expanded into a feature length version, Macabre "clearly delivered one hell of a calling-card picture here," according to our founder and editor Todd Brown in 2009, "one that will turn heads around the globe for all the right reasons."

Heads continued to turn as Stamboel and Tjahjanto next made Killers; our correspondent Jason Gorber admittedly felt that it wasn't a film for everyone, yet it "just may be one of the most interesting, disturbing, and provocative takes on the world of the serial killer ever made." The next feature film by The Mo Brothers took things a bit further.

Headshot (2016)
The film is now streaming on Netflix.

Iko Uwais, Julie Estelle, Chelsea Islan and Sunny Pang star in the story of a young man suffering from amnesia who washes ashore and is nursed back to health by a kind doctor. Soon, though, his past comes a-knocking.

"When someone asks you what no holds barred action looks like," wrote our own Andrew Mack in his review, "just point them in the direction of Headshot. Stand back and be prepared to pick up the pieces of their shattered souls."

The Night Comes For Us (2018)
The film is now streaming on Netflix.

He was just trying to save a young woman's life! An unruly and murderous crime gang doesn't see it that way, though, so an assassin must fight his way out of certain death.

Joe Taslim and Iko Uwais star in the action spectacular. I saw the world premiere at Fantasic Fest in 2018, somehow survived, and wrote my review in the aftermath: "The action choreography by Iko Uwais and his team is often astonishing, but it all works thanks to the framework designed and masterminded by Tjahjanto. One can only imagine that the cuts and bruises during production were excessive and extremely painful, especially over the course of long shooting days and repeated takes. For the most part, such brief thoughts about reality are swatted away as one wonders at the marvels of The Night Comes For Us."

May the Devil Take You (2018)
The film is now streaming on Netflix.

Timo Tjahjanto's first solo feature follows a young woman whose father has fallen into a serious, mysterious illness. She seeks answers in an old villa, and what she discovers horrifies her.

"What follows is nasty, bloody, nasty, gruesome, and nasty. (Did I mention that it's nasty?) It feels like a massive sugar rush, as writer/director Tjahjanto takes delight in upending expectations while delivering exactly what hardcore horror fans want." Those were my impressions back in 2018, and I've been too afraid to see again, or to watch the sequel, May the Devil Take You Too, which is also now streaming on Netflix.

The Shadow Strays (2024)
The film is now streaming on Netflix.

A young assassin is compelled to save a boy from a crime syndicate.

"A lot of people go to therapy to exorcize their demons," wrote Andrew Mack last year. "Timo Tjahjanto makes action movies, very big and violent action movies. ... Tjahjanto returns with another massive dose of explosive and bloody carnage. This time with more sword. ... This is peak ultra-violent action cinema."

As mentioned at the top, Timo Tjahjanto's Nobody 2 opens wide on Friday, August 15, only in movie theaters, via Universal Pictures. For locations and showtimes, visit the official site in Canada or the official site in the U.S..

Now Streaming celebrates independent and international genre films and television shows that are newly available on legal streaming services.