Nick Kozakis is already on his third feature film, but this year marks his first TIFF appearance and his first Midnight Madness world premiere. Kick On follows a group of partiers looking to score to keep their night going, only to cross the wrong mob boss and end up in a bloody fight for survival. I sat down with Kozakis to talk to him about his approach to storytelling and his influences as a filmmaker.

“I think I was traumatized as a kid, by all horror, and I was so obsessed with it that I wanted to make it,” Kozakis said. He cites the Evil Dead films, and Sam Raimi’s career as a whole, as a major inspiration for him to become a filmmaker.

“I think I really needed to understand [the violence] in those films,” he said. “I love all genre across the board, and I think horror has such a vast space to play in, whether it’s action horror or suspense or anything like that.”

Kozakis cites Green Room (2015) as an influence, and the Alfred Molina scene in Boogie Nights (1997) as an indirect influence as well. He also references The Raid: Redemption (2011) and the Terrifier films for their approach to stunt choreography and gore, respectively. 

When asked about the film’s impressive stunt choreography, he cites stunt coordinator Warwick Sadler, who worked on films such as Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025) and The Matrix: Revolutions (2003). He emphasizes that the stunt team often came up with ideas that enhanced and elevated the final product. 

This is Kozakis’ first Midnight Madness and first TIFF, and he says it’s insane to be in the rowdiest crowd at the festival: “You’re kind of behind the curtains, and you walk out, and you’re just slammed with 1,000 people in this beautiful theater. I don’t know, I was in awe.”

Kick On prioritizes practical effects over CGI where necessary. Kozakis says that while CGI has its place for genre fans, we’re more conditioned to “see the artistry” and how actors tangibly react to seeing things “pop and go off.” “It just needed to be practical,” he said.

Kozakis’ film is another breakout for Australian filmmaking, with the Philippou brothers’ films and Adrian Chiarella’s Leviticus (2026) among the most talked-about films of the past few years. I asked Kozakis what it feels like to be in conversation with those filmmakers.

“It’s really cool that Aussie horror and filmmaking in general is getting a moment, and it’s getting recognition,” he said. “For me, even being mentioned in that space is just so cool, but like, I don’t know, I just think that like we’re all kind of building it together.”

He continued: “I want it to be like, hey, the little guys can punch hard too, you know? The Filippous, they’ve been doing it for ages through YouTube, and then they broke the world open with Talk To Me, and then they did it again with Bring Her Back.

“Leviticus was just so cool because, you know, it really tapped into a different space, you know, for the queer community, and it was so lovely to see that. It’s such a beautifully haunting story, you know? I think we’re bringing a lot of different flavors.” 

Where does Kozakis want to go next? I asked the filmmaker where he sees himself going from here and whether he sees himself sticking with genre or branching out.

“This isn’t just lip service because we’re here and you’re wearing an Evil Dead shirt, but, like, I would love to play in the Evil Dead space,” he answered. “I would love to do an Evil Dead. This is kind of like my tribute to the Evil Dead violence, especially the later ones like Rise and Burn and 2013. 

“It’s like, I’m like a little kid in a playground, right? I don’t want to just play on the swing. Like, I want to go to the merry-go-round. I want to go on the slide, you know. I feel like there’s so much room to play in this space. The future is kind of positive right now, and there’s some exciting stuff being discussed.

But yeah, if Evil Dead’s knocking, I’m coming.”

Article courtesy of Nadia Arain

Feature image credit to Fableist