Disney Star Fights Back in Action-Packed Clip From This Week’s Violent New Thriller [Exclusive]

A gripping thriller you might have missed arrives this week, featuring a former Disney star in a surprisingly gritty role. Billy Magnussen plays a man forced to confront a violent family history he thought he’d left behind.

The action thriller Violent Ends arrives in theaters on October 31st, and fans can get a sneak peek now! MovieWeb has an exclusive first look at a clip featuring Luke Frost, played by Magnussen, as he’s pursued by armed attackers. The clip shows Luke turning the tables on his pursuers, and it’s clear he’s not just focused on escaping. Check out the exclusive clip below.

Billy Magnussen, the actor from films like the live-action Aladdin, Road House, and the recent Lilo & Stitch, plays a seemingly good man forced to take drastic measures in the new thriller, Violent Ends. He won’t be facing this challenge alone, as he’s joined by a talented cast including Alexandra Shipp, James Badge Dale, Kate Burton, Ray McKinnon, and Nick Stahl. The film is directed and written by John-Michael Powell, who previously directed the 2022 drama The Send-Off. Here’s what the movie is about:

Lucas Frost, a good man raised in a violent criminal family in the Ozark Mountains, wants to escape his family’s legacy and build a peaceful life with his fiancé, Emma. But when his cousin, Eli, commits a violent armed robbery, Lucas is unexpectedly drawn back into the dangerous world he tried to leave behind.

‘Violent Ends’ Director Teases an “Anti-Western” Inspired by Several Classics

John-Michael Powell, director of Violent Ends, shared the inspiration behind his revenge thriller, explaining that it’s about more than just action. The film explores how violence repeats itself and what happens when family ties conflict with what’s right and wrong. While it may seem similar to classic westerns, Powell actually set out to create something different—a film that moves beyond the simple ‘good versus evil’ storyline.

I didn’t want to create just another typical western with simple heroes and villains. I was more interested in exploring the damaging consequences of revenge, how violence keeps repeating itself across families, and the limitations of the classic western image of a lone gunman. My inspiration came from both classic westerns like Once Upon a Time in the West and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and more recent crime films like No Country for Old Men, Blue Ruin, and A History of Violence. But I wanted to tell the story through my own experiences growing up in Arkansas. I aimed to portray the South not as a stereotypical setting, but as a complex and vibrant place – beautiful yet harsh, familiar yet strangely unsettling – and make it feel like a character in itself, within a modern western-crime story.

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2025-10-30 19:17