Mortal Kombat Star Josh Lawson Joins Forces With Michael Bay for a High-Voltage Horror Thriller

Michael Bay is suiting up for the gym-set horror lane with 'Shredded', a new film from writer-director Josh Lawson. On paper, it sounds like the spiritual cousin to last year’s 'Him' - high-concept, mean, and aimed straight at your nerves.

What is 'Shredded' actually about?

The hook is nasty in the right way: Eileen, newly single and trying to reset, signs up for a fitness class. The coach turns out to be unhinged, she bails, and he snaps. He abducts her, locks her inside a private compound, and subjects her to brutal, escalating workouts like some blood-lust version of self-improvement. The movie is pitched as a raw look at the darker corners of fitness culture and vanity, and it is very much survival horror.

Bay is producing through Platinum Dunes - the company he co-founded with Brad Fuller and Andrew Form - the same shop that helped launch 'A Quiet Place' and 'The Purge'. Also on board: Protagonist Pictures, Logical Pictures International, and UTA Independent Film Group.

"Josh has crafted a deeply personal story that brings the horror directly into the audience's lives... After 'Shredded', audiences won't look at gym equipment - or those wall-length mirrors - the same way again."

Protagonist CEO Dave Bishop calls it a "bold and timely white-knuckle ride" that taps into "contemporary anxieties around control, self-obsession, and self-improvement."

Josh Lawson leveling up

Lawson is best known as an actor, but this is a real pivot. He has directed before - shorts plus two feature comedies - and teaming with Platinum Dunes on a straight-up horror thriller is a sharp turn that makes sense the second you hear that premise.

• First screen credit in 1997 on Australian kids series 'The Wayne Manifesto'.
• Did three episodes of 'Home & Away' in 2004 as Felix Walters - a rite of passage if you grew up watching Aussie TV.
• Ran 58 episodes on Showtime’s 'House of Lies' (2012-2016) as Doug Guggenheim.
• Recurred on NBC’s 'Superstore' as Tate Staskiewicz and popped up on 'Cobra Kai' for a one-off.
• Film work includes 'The Campaign', 'Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues', animated romp 'Free Birds', and the video game adaptation 'Mortal Kombat' as Kano - with a sequel on the way and Lawson set to return.
• Previously directed the features 'The Little Death' (2014) and 'Long Story Short' (2021). 'Shredded' is a bigger, darker swing.

Why this one has my attention

Bay’s taste for clean, cruel concepts paired with Lawson taking a machete to wellness culture is a combo that checks a lot of boxes. And if the producers are right, you may never trust a wall-length mirror again. File under: reasons to skip the 6 a.m. boot-camp class.