Tom Hardy has steadily emerged as one of Hollywood’s most exciting jack-of-all-trades, with the decorated actor showcasing his range with every role he tackles. From thrilling period pieces like Peaky Blinders and Taboo to biopics including Bronson, Legend, and Capone, and, of course, blockbuster hits such as Mad Max: Fury Road and Venom, Hardy can truly do it all. With his ever-growing repertoire, Hardy has also proven himself to be quite the action superstar, and in 2025, he joined forces with director Gareth Evans for Havoc.
The latest Netflix sensation taking audiences by storm focuses on Hardy’s world-weary detective Patrick Walker, as he is forced to take on the criminal underworld after a drug deal goes wrong, prompting him to search for an important politician’s son. Havoc made its premiere on April 25, 2025, and has already dominated the streaming giant, with viewers raving about the endless action sequences as well as a surprisingly subdued moment between two main characters.
Tom Hardy Leads an Explosive Action Thriller
Tom Hardy stars alongside famous faces like Timothy Olyphant, Forest Whitaker, and Jessie Mei Li in the adrenaline-pumping action thriller Havoc. The Netflix original is written, directed, and produced by Gareth Evans, in which the filmmaker once again infuses his love for Indonesian martial arts into an explosive story. Hardy appears as jaded homicide detective Patrick Walker, whose personal and professional life took a major hit after he finds himself in the pocket of real estate tycoon-turned-mayoral candidate Lawrence Beaumont (Whitaker).
When Beaumont’s son Charlie and his girlfriend Mia become entangled with local Triad leader Tsui and are forced to pay off a debt, they find themselves running for their lives after masked assailants brutally murder Tsui and his associates. Walker is tasked with hunting down Charlie before deadly assassins find him first, with the hardened detective also being forced to face his own demons as he squares off against his former friends in a narcotics squad. Naturally, bodies start to pile up as the whole city becomes a hostile and brutal battlefield for Walker.
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Audiences Get an Action Break With a Surprisingly Subdued Moment
Featuring one exhilarating action sequence after another and an endless cycle of blood and violence, audiences were on the edge of their seats as they watched Hardy’s Walker face both old and new threats on his dangerous quest to find Charlie. Though there is no shortage of rip-roaring stunts and combat scenes, there is one moment in Havoc that viewers found equally poignant and restrained, and it was a welcome break from all the relentless assaults. The subdued exchange took place between Beaumont and Tsui’s mother, a senior Triad leader aptly nicknamed “Mother.”
After being viciously kidnapped by Mother’s lead enforcer, a badly beaten Beaumont gets in the car with the grief-stricken woman and heads to a rendezvous site to meet up with Walker, Charlie, and Mia. While in the car, the pair share a refreshingly honest and quiet moment in which they discuss their children and how they actually used to be friends once. Mother and Beaumont commiserate over how their sons wanted to escape from their parents’ shadows, with the two agreeing that they would both do anything for their child.
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The brief yet honest conversation between the two at-odds characters was a much-needed reprieve from the brutal violence and never-ending onslaught of bullets and bloodshed, elevating Havoc and making it more than just a shoot ’em up flick. Both Whitaker and Yeo Yann Yann (Mother) delivered an emotional and compelling dialogue that reminded viewers that, despite being in an all-out war with one another, at the end of the day, they were just a mother and a father fighting for their kids and were forced to face their own respective shortcomings as parents.
Unsurprisingly, Havoc became a certified streaming knockout for Netflix, climbing to the number one spot on their Top Ten Films list and garnering praise from both fans and critics for its exceptionally choreographed action and fight scenes, backbreaking pacing, and gripping storyline. The entertaining thriller is yet another feather in Tom Hardy’s decorated cap and showcases director Gareth Evans’ distinct approach to filmmaking, with Inverse writing in their review:
“With Havoc, what you see is what you get: non-stop fight scenes with just enough plot to keep you emotionally invested. It may not have a setting or much worldbuilding, but that doesn’t matter — you’re there to watch Tom Hardy, well, wreak havoc.”
Stream Havoc on Netflix.
