Motor City (2026) – Review

Quick thoughts:

• Best 2026 coffee pouring.
• Watch Old Henry. I like what director Potsy Ponciroli has been making.
• ELEVATOR FIGHT!!!!!!
• It’s a refreshing experience that forces you to immerse yourself in it. People will love it, or hate it. 
• Ben Foster is on another level. 
• Shailene Woodley is a lot of fun.
• I like big swings. 
• Amar Chadha-Patel, Lionel Boyce, Pablo Schreiber, and Jack White provide solid supporting work
• I’ll give it 7 candy blades out of 10. 

Produced by and starring Alan Ritchson, Motor City is an ambitious revenge film that plays out almost entirely without dialogue. The film took 17 years to develop (people have been talking about this script for a long time) with directors and stars coming and going as they tried to crack the inspired script written by Chad St. John (Peppermint, London Has Fallen). Set in the 1970s and fueled by nonverbal storytelling, needle drops, and a doozy of an elevator fight, Motor City is worth watching on the big screen so you can immerse yourself in the mayhem and bask in the wonderful cinematography by John Matysiak (Old Henry – watch it). Director Potsy Ponciroli (Old Henry – seriously, watch it) interviewed for the directing job years ago and was turned down, but after the director dropped out, Ponciroli grabbed on to the project and saw it to completion (this is a good thing). The end result is a thrilling example of what happens when creatives throw caution to the wind and create an immersive and unique action film that will most likely divide audiences. 

The story focuses on what happens when an ex-Army Ranger named John Miller (Alan Ritchson) is framed for a comically large drug bust on the day he gets engaged to his girlfriend Sophia (Shailene Woodley), and learns that his parole has ended. He’ s put in prison by Savick (Pablo Schreiber), a corrupt detective who also works for local Detroit crime boss Reynolds (Ben Foster). The abusive Reynolds wants revenge because he was embarrassed during an alleyway brawl that happened when John caught Reynolds beating up his then-girlfriend Sophia. John is sent to prison for 25 years and vows to escape when he learns that Reynolds married Sophia and is pumping her full of drugs to keep her compliant and unable to escape his mansion. With the help of his Ranger friends Youngblood (Lionel Boyce) and Singh (Amar Chadha-Patel), John escapes, and it leads to a brutal series of events involving knife fights, homemade explosives, and bloody elevator fights. 

It’s worth mentioning that most of the scenes are told without dialogue, and it’s up to audiences to catch the newspaper clipping, facial cues, and hairstyles that tell the story. It’s not a lot of work, but the film requires audiences to engage and immerse themselves in the world (which won’t work for cell phone-loving audiences or people who need hand-holding). The action is top-notch, and there’s an elevator fight that belongs in the “Elevator Fight Hall of Fame,” but the main draws are the actors. Alan Ritchson, Ben Foster, Shailene Woodley, Lionel Boyce, Amar Chadha-Patel, Pablo Schreiber, Ben McKenzie and Jack White understood their assignments and thrived without dialogue. It’s hard to pick an MVP, but it’s difficult not to give Ben Foster the award because he’s an absolute maniac in the movie. Everything he does is magic, and it’s fun watching him pour coffee, dance in clubs, open presents, stab people, and push his glasses up his nose during a car chase.

Filmed in Patterson, New Jersey, for its old school aesthetic, Motor City is a unique looking film set in a Detroit hellscape (they aren’t going for realism). The cinematography by John Matysiak is wonderful, and he does a fine job of shooting conversations in ways that we can’t hear them. Whether it’s filming John’s parole meeting from outside an office with glass windows, or capturing Woodley yelling at McKenzie from the POV of a piano player (Jack White makes a cameo and was the music supervisor), the shot selection does a fine job of capturing the story without needing dialogue. 

The initial wig work is a bit wonky, but it’s excusable when you learn that Ritchson’s evolving hairstyles help tell a nonverbal story. When it comes to the film’s technical aspects, costume designer Amy Roth (The Mastermind, Motherless Brooklyn) seemed to have a blast coming up with good-looking outfits for the good-looking cast. It’s also fun that Roth seemingly designed all of Ben Foster’s costumes to accentuate his chest hair, which is on full display. 

Final thoughts – Motor City is an ambitious revenge thriller that deserves your attention.