Interview - Affinity : How Brandon Slagle and Marko Zaror Redefined Independent Action Cinema

By Mulder, Los Angeles, 26 september 2025

Affinity is a high-octane yet deeply human action film that places Marko Zaror front and center in his first English-language leading role. Directed by Brandon Slagle, the film follows Bruno, a former Navy SEAL haunted by PTSD, whose isolated life in Thailand is upended when he rescues Athena, a mysterious woman with a dangerous past. What begins as a tender romance quickly spirals into a brutal fight for survival, blending explosive martial arts choreography, shootouts, and knife fights with an emotional core rooted in trauma and love. Shot against the sweeping landscapes of Thailand and edited by longtime Marko Zaror collaborator Ernesto Díaz Espinoza, Affinity distinguishes itself with concise storytelling, bold stylistic choices, and a blend of old-school sincerity with modern action spectacle, marking a milestone in both Marko Zaror’s career and Brandon Slagle’s evolution as a filmmaker.

Q : Affinity feels both intimate and explosive. How did you find the balance between a personal love story and large-scale action spectacle ?

Brandon Slagle : I think, um, most of it is really just making sure that there's something about the characters that the audience relates to, that you can look them in the eye and see them as this could be somebody I know. And as long as you do that, hopefully, if everyone executes it properly, then the audience will feel as if they are Marco Zaror, even if they aren't a 6'2" martial artist from Chile.

Q : You’ve directed action films before, but this time the narrative leans heavily on post-traumatic stress disorder. What drew you to explore that psychological layer ?

Brandon Slagle : It was, um, Marco and I spent a lot of time together, um, going over things for months before we shot the movie. And he had had this story for a number of years. I think seven years when we shot it. Um, so we really, him as producer and me as director, were able to really plot out, um, everything and work on his character for months. So that he's someone who has—he's accepted his post-traumatic stress, but he hasn't moved on from it yet. So this story is about him, uh, finding a way to move on.

Q : Marko Zaror finally takes center stage here as a leading man. What convinced you he was the right actor to carry this story ?

Brandon Slagle : Well, he came with the script. So, you know, it was something that already existed when I came on. I came on about close to two and a half, three years ago. And, um, but I wouldn't—even if this was something that came to me—he still would have been a good choice for it because, uh, there are some guys working in the action space. There's him, Scott Adkins, and a few others who really care not just about performing the moves properly, but they really care about reaching their audience and doing better in every movie. Um, and Marco is someone who, you know, thanks to the opportunities he's had in John Wick: Chapter 4 and Killer's Game and other movies, he's been able to, um, start to peak. So hopefully he continues. Hopefully, um, this will show him in a more vulnerable light than people are used to seeing him.

Q : Marko Zaror is also a producer and choreographer on the film. How did his dual role shape your directing process ?

Brandon Slagle : We were really able to work together as a team, like I said, for months and months. Um, even when he was shooting Killer's Game, we were still on a Zoom call for an hour or two every day. Um, occasionally we would have a guest. Daniel Bernhardt joined one of our Zooms once. So that was fun. Um, but it was great because we both understood we had the same goal for the story, which is really the best thing you can have in a partnership in a movie.

Q : The film was born from an idea developed with the late Daniel Zirilli. Did honoring his vision influence the way you approached the project ?

Brandon Slagle : Um, I just wanted to make sure that the movie was something that everyone involved, whether it was current or not, would have been proud of, and hopefully Daniel would have been proud of it. Sorry.

Q : Thailand’s landscapes are stunning on screen. How did the environment inform your visual storytelling ?

Brandon Slagle : So, I've done a number of movies in Thailand, but often I shoot them in Thailand, but they're set somewhere else. I even did one that we shot in Thailand that takes place in Louisiana. So this was the first time I got to actually show Bangkok as it is now. Um, and I love doing that because Bangkok has sort of a Blade Runner futuristic vibe to it that I don't think you see on screen a lot. I mean, even the new Alien TV series shot there, but the only time you see a city is it's a CGI thing. So I love being able to show the grit to it, whether it's the flashier parts or the more downtrodden parts of the city. To me, it's almost another character in the movie.

Q : The fight sequences escalate in style and intensity. Was there one action set piece that proved the most difficult to capture ?

Brandon Slagle : I wouldn't say they were difficult. It was more that we wanted to make each fight feel… we didn't want to repeat ourselves with each one. I have a certain style that I like to use for drama and action, and, um, you know, it's kind of a combination of a lot of influences, whether it's Asian or like Tony Scott or someone. Um, but we wanted to make sure that the fights had different fighting styles and, to a degree, slightly different camera styles, but still very much fitting in the world and in the style that the movie's executed in. There's kind of a little bit of an anime feel throughout the entire thing as well, I'd like to think.

Q : The romance between Bruno and Athena anchors the film emotionally. How did you work with Marko Zaror and Jane Mirro to avoid clichés and keep their relationship authentic ?

Brandon Slagle : I'd say the main thing is to make sure that they focused on the emotion and on the story and the character, not necessarily the lines themselves. Um, I think a lot of actors get wrapped up in how many lines of dialogue they have or what the words are or hitting every single word, when really it's about conveying the meaning as opposed to every single syllable. Because if you don't have the meaning, then those words are meaningless.

Q : Brooke Ence and Louis Mandylor bring real texture to their supporting roles. What did you want these characters to add beyond muscle and backup ?

Brandon Slagle : I just wanted them to feel like a family. Um, Louis is someone who I've known for about two decades and I've had him in a number of films. So, you know, I'm never going to say no to having him on something. Uh, Brooke I had just met when we landed in Thailand. Um, but we hit it off instantly. And I think each of them and Marco all come from kind of different worlds and different backgrounds. So, it was a great meeting that really expands the worldliness of the piece. Because had they not served together in the military, or I think in the story Marco's father served with Louis, would these people have met? I don't know. But they have each other, and that's what matters.

Q : Editing was handled by Ernesto Díaz Espinoza, who has a history with Zaror. How did his sensibility affect the film’s rhythm and intensity ?

Brandon Slagle : Well, he's one of the few editors that I didn't complain about constantly. Um, he has a great sense of style. He understands action. I didn't have to hold his hand through it because he and Marco grew up together, you know, and had a similar upbringing to me where this is all we wanted to do. So we've studied it our entire lives. You know, sometimes you don't have the tools to do it exactly as you want to, but you get better and hopefully make more movies. So it was really like having another me.

Q : You’ve often been praised for making the most of modest budgets. What specific tricks or choices helped Affinity look bigger than it cost ?

Brandon Slagle : A lot of it is hiring the right people. Um, the right director of photography. This director of photography, Nico, has shot multiple films for me. He shot films Louis has made. He shot Prisoner of War with Louis and Scott that just came out. He shot Diablo that Ernesto and Marco did. So he's really kind of a voice inside my head—like he can read my thoughts. I don't need to overexplain what I want or what style I need to employ because he just understands it. I think on one of the sets we had, he was called the Roger Deakins of action movies because he's great at lighting and framing, and he adapts. Um, and aside from just Nico, the crew in Thailand—every crew I've had is really just amazing, and they have a great work ethic and are incredibly creative. So it's really the right team to make the most of what you have.

Q : The film introduces a sci-fi twist with genetic modification. How did you balance that genre element with grounded, military-driven action ?

Brandon Slagle : So my idea, and I told Marco this early on and he agreed with me, is this movie could be set very slightly in the future. Like not 20 years, not 10, not even five—it could be next year. But it's unspecified. So, you know, you see some of the advances in genetic research and stuff that are going on. And one of the reasons that this was a passion project of Marco's is because he wanted to explore those themes and how it relates to natural humans and so on. So I think it's really coming out at the right time where some of the themes presented in the movie are possibly realities. Um, so even though it's an action movie and even though it's fairly straightforward, hopefully there's still a little bit that will make people think too.

Q : The final showdown between Zaror and Brahim Chab is already being talked about. How did you approach filming that duel to make it unforgettable ?

Brandon Slagle : Well, Brahim lives in France. Is he there with you? Yeah. Um, Brahim is someone who I spoke to years ago about a movie in a video game franchise that I ended up not doing. Um, and we didn't realize that when we met again. We're like, "Oh, yeah. We had this conversation years ago." Um, so Brahim and Marco have a history from working on Fight or Flight and other films. And that particular fight was shot primarily in Steadicam, all long takes so you see everything. Um, the Steadicam operator, I believe, is the same guy who shot the three Ong Bak movies, if I'm not mistaken, but I know he has a history with Tony Jaa. So it was really a matter of escalation. Like I said earlier, the fights are all different. So, you know, we begin in the past in the Middle East. We continue into the alley—that's one form. We skip ahead to, let's say, the shootout in the restaurant and other things. So we're building to this showdown between two titans, for lack of better words, with Marco and Brahim. And I feel like it worked. I feel like we were able to get the audience to a place where they're ready for that fight. And it's just like a release when it happens and they watch it. Sorry, I have a daughter. Nice. Well, hi.

Q : Today’s blockbusters often stretch past two hours, but Affinity is tight and lean. Was that conciseness a deliberate choice from the start ?

Brandon Slagle : You know, any story should really just be as long as it needs to be. You don't need to… A lot of movies will be long because, oh, you know, every Marvel movie should be over two hours, or short because you need more people to get more screenings. But really, it should be as long as it needs to properly tell the story. Um, so could there have been a version of this that was two and a half hours? Sure. But it would have gone more into maybe the backstory with the villain and such. But the point of view of the movie is through Marco, through the Bruno character's eyes. So anything beyond that, the audience is experiencing with him. Beyond that, it may have been too much, and it would have been a different movie.

Q : Looking back at your career so far—from The Flood and Battle for Saipan to Affinity—do you see this as a turning point in how you want to tell stories moving forward ?

Brandon Slagle : Uh, yes. I'd like to continue to integrate this type of action with these types of stories. I love science fiction. I grew up with it, you'd say. I love things like Philip K. Dick, like Total Recall and Blade Runner and Minority Report, stories like that. I would love to do a movie that has this type of action with these types of performers that is the same type of story as something like Minority Report. I think that would be really unique and really, really special. The Flood was kind of a sidestep because that's more similar to some of the horror movies I've done in the past. So Saipan and Affinity and one called Breakout I did recently are really, hopefully, stepping stones to get to that goal.

Brandon Slagle has steadily built a reputation as one of the most resourceful and versatile voices in independent genre cinema, especially in action. Coming from a background that spans acting, writing, and directing, he has carved out a directing style defined by making the most of lean budgets while still delivering scale, atmosphere, and emotional stakes. Films like The Flood and Battle for Saipan showcased his ability to craft tension and spectacle under tight production conditions, but with Affinity he pushes further, blending brutal martial arts choreography, a sci-fi twist, and an emotionally charged love story into a single narrative. What makes Slagle stand out is his refusal to treat action as empty spectacle; his lens emphasizes both the visceral intensity of combat and the inner struggles of characters, proving that action films can still be heartfelt and human even at their most explosive.

Synopsis:
A former SEAL suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder rescues a woman and falls in love with her, but loses her to mysterious kidnappers. He assembles an elite team to find her, but soon discovers a shocking truth: she has been genetically modified by a scientist mourning his wife.

Affinity
Directed by Brandon Slagle
Written by Gina Aguad, Christopher M. Don, Liam O'Neil, Marko Zaror
Produced by Joshua Dixon, Adel Nur, Adam Pray, Daniel Zirilli
Starring Marko Zaror, Louis Mandylor, Brooke Ence, Brahim Chab, Elliott Allison
Cinematography:
Edited by Ernesto Díaz Espinoza
Music by Rocco
Production companies: Mbrella Films, Cut Mix and Color, Atomik Content, Los Lobos Records, Zaror Entertainment
Distributed by Well Go USA Entertainment (United States), Haussmann Medias (France)
Release dates: September 30, 2025 (United States)
Running time: 86 minutes

We would like to thank Brandon Slagle for this interview and Leif Helland for helping us arrange it.