Film Review : Motor City (2026)

Doing a 90+ minute action drama in 2026 with almost zero dialog is a tall order. For Motor City, some of it works, but as a whole it falls a little short.

In 70s Detroit we follow John, a man who falls gangsters girl, and then is wrongfully convicted of a crime he didn’t do. After escaping though he goes on a mission to go after the man who stole his girl and sent him to prison.

The real main talking point of the movie, ironically, is that there is almost no dialog. Outside out a couple lines, the film is nonexistent in dialog. Instead using needle drops and music in the film to help get through the emotions while the cast is portraying everything solely through facial reactions and body movements.

Unlike say 2024s Azrael which also went the route of no dialog but as a point of the story, for Motor City, there is no real reason to. We watch characters talk but from outside of a building with only their mouths moving, dramatic moments are reduced to just body movements, and there is never a real reason for it. The no dialog for sure is done as a talking point for the movie but it just doesn’t entirely work.

Now that isn’t on the actors here either. Alan Ritchson does great here in the lead role and can visually make you feel the emotions he is going through. Shailene Woodley as the woman caught in the middle here shows love and hatred so clearly here but the real treat is Ben Foster. Foster is playing his favorite mafia bad guy here and just exudes charism through the screen with no words.

What just really doesn’t work here is that nothing extra was added to take away the dialog. The film at just over 100 minutes feels boring often. Its hard sometimes to build a story and tension in scenes where it feels like there is just a mute button pressed. The action feels great and intense when it happens but it just doesn’t feel like its often enough.

Does it feel like its been ripped straight out of the 70s though, yes. Its dark, gritty, brutal, and sleazy. It just feels like an experiment where not everything went well.

Score :

2 / 5