Alan Ritchson’s Next Action Movie Promises All the Reacher Vibes Fans Love

Alan Ritchson built a fan army by turning Jack Reacher into a walking, talking (mostly glaring) wrecking ball. Now he is leaning even harder into the quiet bruiser thing with Motor City, a 1970s Detroit revenge story that reportedly runs 103 minutes and uses, no joke, five total lines of dialogue. Let’s break down what this is, how it plays, and why it sounds like a wild swing that actually connects.

What the movie is actually about

Set in Detroit in the 70s, Motor City follows John Miller (Ritchson), a former Army Ranger working a blue-collar job who falls for Sophia (Shailene Woodley). One problem: she is with Reynolds (Ben Foster), a local drug boss who does not exactly take rejection well. John gets framed by Reynolds and a dirty cop named Savick (Pablo Schreiber), lands in prison, and spends his time inside planning payback. When he gets out, he methodically works his way through the people who put him there, building to an inevitable, messy showdown.

The five-lines-of-dialogue thing

Ritchson has already proven he can hold a screen with very few words, but this is another level. With only a handful of spoken lines in the entire film, the performance lives on posture, glances, and momentum. He told Variety it was both unnerving and energizing to throw away the usual safety net:

"Language is such a reliable, trusty tool, and to not have that in the toolkit is a little scary. But it was exhilarating to go, all right, can I try to create that same kind of magnetism without that tool?"

"With this kind of emotionally supercharged character who has lost everything, is on his heels, has been betrayed over and over again, and wanting vengeance, it is all an internal conversation fueled by contempt and rage and shame and guilt and frustration... For me, this film was more about the duel between the stillness in the internal rage and that wanting to percolate outwards."

If you watch Reacher for the thousand-yard stares and blunt-force justice, this is basically that distilled down to the purest form. It is a big formal gamble, but it suits Ritchson.

Does the experiment pay off?

So far, yes. Motor City premiered in the Venice Spotlight section at the Venice International Film Festival and has been picking up strong buzz for the fight design, the unapologetic R-rated edge, and a cast that goes for it. Director Potsy Ponciroli keeps it stylized and muscular on what is, by studio standards, a modest $30 million budget. The vibe is helped by a punchy, scene-lifting soundtrack overseen by Jack White as musical director.

"This movie is somewhere between an opera, a music video, and an action movie. Emotion conveys without language being essential; the actors' performances are front and center. Potsy has a killer vision for the film: dynamic camera, brilliant music, muscle cars, and an immersive sound design surrounding badass action sequences."

- Jon Berg, Stampede Ventures

Early numbers back it up: a 79% score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.5/10 from IMDb users at the moment. Expect those to shift once more people see it.

The basics, at a glance

• Setting: 1970s Detroit; gritty revenge thriller
• Runtime: 103 minutes
• Dialogue count: reportedly five lines total
• Director: Potsy Ponciroli
• Writer: Chad St. John
• Budget: about $30 million
• Music: Jack White served as musical director
• Producers: Greg Silverman, Jon Berg, Chad St. John, Cliff Roberts
• Cast: Alan Ritchson (John Miller), Shailene Woodley (Sophia), Ben Foster (Reynolds), Pablo Schreiber (Savick), Ben McKenzie
• Premiere: Venice International Film Festival, Venice Spotlight section
• Release: listings currently point to August 30, 2025; the official theatrical rollout has not been fully detailed yet

Big picture

Ritchson has been on a tear since Reacher, popping up in Fast X and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare with more on deck. Motor City looks like another smart lane for him: a precise, physical star turn that trusts the camera and the audience. It is a bold little pressure cooker of a movie, and if you are into stripped-down, hard-edged revenge stories, this one sounds like a very loud time built out of very few words.