Michelle Yeoh is back in action, and critics are loving every bloody minute of it. Her new thriller The Surgeon just premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 12, 2026, and it has already scored a flawless 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on early reviews. Described as a mix between John Wick and the medical drama The Pitt, the film stars Yeoh as a retired surgeon who is kidnapped and forced to operate on a crime boss—only to turn her surgical skills into weapons of survival.
What The Surgeon Is About
The plot follows Dr. Eliza, a brilliant surgeon who has just retired after decades of saving lives. Her peaceful retirement is cut short when she is abducted by a dangerous criminal gang and held at gunpoint in an abandoned hospital. The gang, led by Martin Freeman‘s character Sean, forces her to remove a tumor from their ailing leader. Outnumbered and with no way to escape, Eliza must rely on her 35 years of surgical experience to survive.
What the kidnappers fail to realize is that Eliza’s greatest weapon is not a gun or a fist—it is her intimate knowledge of the human body. She begins using surgical instruments and anatomical precision to incapacitate her captors one by one, turning the operating room into a brutal battlefield. The film blends graphic medical realism with fast-paced combat, creating a style that critics have called both shocking and inventive.
Michelle Yeoh Leads A Star-Studded Cast
Michelle Yeoh stars as Dr. Eliza, marking her first major action-leading role since winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for Everything Everywhere All at Once in 2023. Yeoh trained with real surgeons to prepare for the role, even dissecting a pig at a training hospital to learn how to handle surgical instruments realistically. She explained what drew her to the project:
“I’m always on the lookout for doing an action film, but not a normal action film. There’s so many amazing big stunts [featuring a lot of] physicality, gore and brutality. So, what attracted me was looking at this and being like, ‘Oh wow, I haven’t done action like this before’”.
Martin Freeman plays Sean, the crime boss who kidnaps Eliza. Freeman is known for his roles in The Hobbit trilogy, Sherlock, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Everett K. Ross. The cast also includes Laurie Davidson, Yuri Kolokolnikov, and Joseph Mydell, with appearances from Barry John Kinsella, Sabrina Pui Yee Chin, Ian Gerard Whyte, Dónall Ó Héalaí, and Emma Brady.
Director Roshan Sethi Brings Real Medical Expertise
Roshan Sethi wrote and directed The Surgeon, bringing a unique perspective to the film: he is a practicing physician and former radiation oncologist. Sethi co-created the Fox medical drama The Resident and worked as a writer on Code Black, using his real-world medical background to shape the film’s authentic depiction of surgery.
Sethi’s medical knowledge is woven into the film’s visual style, which uses internal anatomical overlays to show how Eliza plans her attacks against her captors. He spoke about his vision for the project:
“I’m so excited to bring something brand new and innovative to the action genre based heavily on my medical background. I cannot think of a better partner than Michelle, the iconic queen of action who will be using her skills in a different and surprising way in this film”.
The film is produced by Thunder Road Films, the company behind the John Wick franchise. Basil Iwanyk, who produced all four John Wick films, serves as a producer on The Surgeon, alongside Erica Lee, John Schoenfelder, Russell Ackerman, Adam Kolbrenner, Steve Klinsky, and others.
Critics Praise The Surgeon As A Genre-Bending Thrill Ride
Early reviews for The Surgeon have been overwhelmingly positive, with the film debuting at a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics have called it shocking, gory, witty, and entertaining, with many singling out Yeoh’s performance as a highlight.
Deadline praised the film’s creative use of medical knowledge as a weapon, writing that it “holds nothing back in exploring the human anatomy as weaponry that even John Wick would envy”. The review added that the film is “a lot of fun, but not for squeamish stomachs” and noted that Yeoh “not only still has the action chops, she is completely believable and authentic as a doctor who has seen it all”.
Next Best Picture gave the film a 7/10 score, noting that “Michelle Yeoh delivers brilliant work and keeps you on your toes” while praising the “creative kills and satisfying payoffs”. Region Free‘s Joonatan Itkonen called it “a wild and unexpected thrill from start to finish,” adding that “Yeoh is cool as ice, the action is inventive and shocking, and I could never guess where the film would go next”.
The Playlist‘s Gregory Ellwood highlighted the film’s medical accuracy, noting that director Sethi “does a fantastic job sometimes demonstrating, sometimes explaining, how Eliza takes down each of her adversaries”.
TIFF Premiere And Release Details
The Surgeon held its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2026, at the Royal Alexandra Theatre. The film runs for 92 minutes and is categorized as an action thriller. Yeoh, Freeman, and Sethi all attended the premiere and participated in a featured panel.
Despite the strong critical reception, The Surgeon does not yet have an announced theatrical release date. Following its festival premiere, the film is currently seeking distribution. The film was announced in May 2025 and was presented to buyers at the Cannes Film Market before its TIFF debut.
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What Makes The Surgeon Stand Out
Unlike traditional action films, The Surgeon features a protagonist who is not a martial artist or a fighter. Yeoh’s character uses her medical knowledge and surgical precision to defeat her enemies, creating a unique action language that critics have described as “nasty, clever, and oddly exhilarating”.
The film’s approach to violence is both inventive and visceral. As Deadline noted, “Who needs a gun when you bring on instant death just by pulling out the colon and squeezing for 30 seconds”. This commitment to graphic medical realism has earned the film comparisons to The Pitt but with a much darker and more brutal edge.
MovieWeb reported that during the TIFF screening, “the entire theater roared, screamed, and gasped in unison,” with one critic saying they had “never seen anything like it”. The film’s combination of dark humor, suspense, and shocking violence has made it one of the most talked-about titles of the festival season.
Stay tuned to VvipTimes for more updates on The Surgeon and other major film releases.
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