96 Minutes (2025) Review: The Most Intense High-Speed Thriller Since 'Speed'

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Taiwan's latest action thriller, 96 Minutes, has been a hot topic among filmgoers since its release. Combining real-time suspense elements with profound moral dilemmas, the film successfully immerses audiences in a life-and-death situation aboard a speeding bullet train.

The story begins three years before the main events, on a night of a terrifying typhoon. Song Kang-ren (Austin Lin), a talented bomb disposal expert, makes the risky decision to defuse a bomb in a movie theater alone without orders from his superiors.

Although he succeeds, a second bomb explodes in a nearby shopping mall, causing hundreds of casualties. This tragedy destroys Kang-ren's career and his relationship with his fiancée, detective Huang Xin (Vivian Sung), due to overwhelming guilt.

96 Minutes Synopsis

Three years later, Kang-ren and Huang Xin are on a high-speed train (HSR) from Taipei to Kaohsiung. Unbeknownst to them, a bomb has been planted on the train by a criminal mastermind seeking revenge for Kang-ren's past failures.

The bomb was designed with a cruel mechanism: it would explode if the train stopped or if anyone tried to get off. Kang-ren had exactly 96 minutes the train's journey time to the final station—to find and defuse the bomb. Amidst the panic of hundreds of passengers, Kang-ren had to work with his fiancée and confront his past trauma to save lives.

96 Minutes Crew and Production

This film was an ambitious production with a budget of US$5 million (approximately Rp 78 billion), a huge figure for the Taiwanese film industry, aiming to break into the global blockbuster disaster film market.

• Director: Hung Tzu-hsuan (known for The Scoundrels).
• Screenwriters: Yi-Fang Chen, Hung Tzu-hsuan, and Wan-Ju Yang.
• Executive Producer: Jeff Tsou.
• Production House: Wowing Entertainment Group and Flash Forward Entertainment.

96 Minutes Cast and Characters

This film stars a lineup of top Taiwanese actors:

• Austin Lin (Lin Bo-hong) as Song Kang-ren: A former bomb disposal expert haunted by trauma.
• Vivian Sung as Huang Xin: A police detective and Kang-ren's fiancée.
• Wang Po-chieh (Jacob Wang) as Liu Kai: A physics teacher caught up in a scandal and crisis on the train.
• Lee Lee-zen as Li Jie: The police commander and Kang-ren's former superior.
• Eleven Yao (Yao Yi-ti) as Ting-Juan Yang.
• Kent Tsai as Li-Hui Yang.
• Frederick Lee as Mr. Wu.

96 Minutes Screening Schedule

• Premiere: June 20, 2025, at the Taipei Film Festival.
• Theatrical Release (Taiwan): September 5, 2025.
• Digital Platform: Debuts on Netflix globally on January 30, 2026.

Reasons to Watch 96 Minutes

• Suspenseful Real-Time Concept: The film's running time is almost the same as the characters' time to defuse the bomb, providing a consistent sense of tension.
• Moral Dilemma "Trolley Problem": This film isn't just action, but also explores the difficult choice between saving a few or many lives.
• Large-Scale Visuals: The use of a specially constructed high-speed train set creates a realistic and majestic feel.
• Austin Lin's Acting: Austin Lin's performance as a psychologically fragile man forced to act heroically received widespread praise.

96 Minutes Film Rating

• Based on reviews from various international film platforms, here's an overview of the ratings and critical reception for 96 Minutes (2025):
• IMDb: 7.4/10 (Based on thousands of user reviews). This film was praised for its ability to maintain high tension from the first minute to the last. IMDb - 96 Minutes (2025).
• Rotten Tomatoes: It received an 88% score from critics and a 92% rating from audiences. Many critics called it "the best Taiwanese thriller of the year," combining elements of Speed ​​action with powerful emotional drama. Rotten Tomatoes - 96 Minutes.
• MUBI: 3.6/5.0 stars. Film enthusiasts in this community appreciated director Hung Tzu-hsuan's highly technical cinematography and direction in confined spaces, like a train. MUBI - 96 Minutes Profile.
• Douban (Chinese Review Platform): 7.2/10. East Asian audiences gave positive marks to Austin Lin's emotional and realistic acting.

96 Minutes is a testament to Taiwanese cinema's ability to tackle the disaster-action genre to international standards. Beneath the explosions and chase scenes, this film is a drama about redemption and the courage to face past failures. If you liked movies like Speed ​​or Train to Busan, this is a must-see.