Martial arts icon and Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) once again demonstrates her particular set of skills in a new and truly unique action thriller that has now emerged as one of the best of the year. The beloved genre icon won the Oscar for Best Actress back in 2023 for her astounding performance in the multiversal madness that is Everything Everywhere All at Once. Now, it seems she’s managed to top even that action-packed genre mash-up with this ” John Wick meets The Pitt” thriller.
Rather than leaping across the multiverse, this time, Michelle Yeoh takes the lead in The Surgeon as a gifted doctor who steps down after an accomplished career, only to return to the operating room at gunpoint. In her newfound retirement, she is abducted by a criminal gang (led by Martin Freeman) that forces her to work on a member with a life-threatening medical condition. Of course, thanks to her years as a surgeon, she is uniquely skilled with a scalpel, fighting back and proving she’s just as capable of inflicting pain as she is healing it.
While surprisingly little has been revealed, with The Surgeon so far only releasing a single image and no trailer, the action thriller made its debut at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival, and has now scored a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes following the first reviews. A result that quickly makes it one of the most exciting, and best, action outings of the year.
“Led by a brilliant Michelle Yeoh, “The Surgeon” scratches the itch of a pulpy channel-surfing Hollywood action thriller,” said Next Best Picture, with The Hollywood Reporter hailing The Surgeon as a “genre-bending swirl that is part The Pitt (but gorier), part tense crime thriller, part action movie and part midnight movie, all infused with witty touches. It is wildly entertaining.” The John Wick meets The Pitt comparisons come thick and fast, with Deadline saying…
“This medical thrill ride holds nothing back in exploring the human anatomy as weaponry that even John Wick would envy. Maybe we should call this one John Sick?”
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Michelle Yeoh in ‘ Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’Columbia Pictures
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JoBlo, meanwhile, praises Michelle Yeoh and her affinity for carving up “dozens of baddies in this fast-paced action flick,” before describing it as “entertaining, action-packed, and very commercial. But it’s also refreshingly gruesome and doesn’t pull any punches as far as the medical gore goes. Imagine The Pitt if Dr. Robby had to kill a whole whack of bad guys, and you have an inkling of what The Surgeon is.” Finally, a perfect 5/5 was awarded by Region Free, who concluded…
“During The Surgeon, the entire theater roared, screamed, and gasped in unison. I’ve never seen anything like it, and I loved it to bits.”
Directed by Roshan Sethi (A Nice Indian Boy) and produced by the John Wick franchise’s Thunder Road Films, The Surgeon is awaiting a distributor to pick it up following its TIFF premiere. But, based on the reaction so far, as well as the deliciously high concept of smashing the misadventures of Baba Yaga with the white-knuckle medical drama of HBO’s hit medical drama, it surely won’t be long before a lucky studio gets its hands on the twisted thrills of The Surgeon.
Birthdate
August 6, 1962
Birthplace
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Birthname
Yeoh Chu-Kheng