Action movie fans have wasted no time in sending a low-key 2025 indie movie straight to the top of the Starz streaming platform, dethroning the John Wick spinoff, Ballerina, in the process. The movie is Hierarchy, which is following up a hardly-noticed limited theatrical release in August with a strong streaming debut.
Hierarchy is directed by Russell K. Reed, starring and written by Chiderah Uzowulu. The film was originally released in a few theaters on August 15 and became available on digital platforms the same day. The synopsis of the movie reads:
“As adopted brothers Stone and Reach prepare for the biggest and most dangerous heist of their lives, they find themselves caught in a high-stakes game of survival. A relentless foreign mafia, seeking to settle scores, hunts them down, while unresolved family tensions from their past threaten to unravel their plans. Meanwhile, a determined police force is closing in, intent on bringing them to justice, turning their ambitious job into a race against time.”
The limited nature of the movie’s original release means that there have been no critic reviews posted on Rotten Tomatoes, but audience reactions are very positive. The film’s reported budget of under $100,000 leads to many praising its ability to deliver a strong story, which, for one reviewer, is “the best crime thriller drama I’ve seen in 30 years.” Words such as “incredible” and “phenomenal” appear in other comments, with almost all heaping praise on the movie’s lead star. A five-star from Sandra G reads:
“This movie gives audience a good hard look at how greed can destroy lives. The suspense and danger keeps you fully engaged and anticipating what the next move will be. This is a character-based thriller, and neither the characters nor the thrills disappoint.”
It seems that this is what has allowed Hierarchy to overtake many other movies with much higher budgets and big-name stars to claim a place at the top of the Starz chart, and with strong word of mouth, it could stay there for a little while yet.
‘Hierarchy’ Proves You Don’t Need Money to Make a Good Movie
While many modern movies are struggling to keep their budgets from soaring to a level that could pay off the national debt of a small country, there have been many filmmakers delivering impressive results on tiny budgets. Hierarchy is the latest of such movies.
In the last few years, horror movies in particular have been killing it (pun most definitely intended). The Terrifier franchise, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, and Longlegs have all turned a large profit by keeping their costs low and their premise attention-grabbing. Hierarchy is now doing the same thing in the action genre by putting as much effort into its story and action set-pieces, while keeping one eye firmly on the amount of money available. Does it have the gloss of a $100 million blockbuster? No, but it clearly doesn’t need to.