A new industrial revolution is thriving in Detroit during the 1970s, and while the corporate suits are making it big, the underbelly of the Michigan town is thriving in its own way. Caught in the middle is factory worker John Miller (Alan Ritchson), a blue collar man who falls for Sophia (Shailene Woodley), a waitress at the 24 hour diner. Unbeknownst to him, Sophia is already in a relationship with gang boss Reynolds (Ben Foster), a man with a nasty jealous streak who will stop at nothing to put John back in his place.

Potsy Ponciroli directs Motor City, a pulpy, grindhouse action thriller from Chad St. John’s Black List recognized script. The long gestating title, running a blistering 103 minute, cycled through just about every action star de l’année before finally entering production after almost 15 years, finally taking a bow at the 2025 edition of the Venice International Film Festival, and ultimately securing a 1,600-screen theatrical release through IFC.

Told in a slightly non-linear fashion – opening at what we will learn is a segment from the final battle, resetting to the narrative start, and then featuring a few flashbacks along the way – much of our anchoring of the story comes from Richardson’s performance, how he is dressed by designer Amy Roth, and how certain elements of the cold open reappear in the narrative proper. Complicating the issues, and in a fascinating way, is St. John’s minimal use of dialogue which is already setting the expectation that there is more talking in this film than there actually is. He gives us just enough in the first act – or, perhaps just the illusion of enough – that it is not until pretty far into the film that we become aware of the schtick which is a testament not only to St. John’s pacing, but also to Ponciroli’s direction of both cinematographer John Matysiak‘s lens who was wholly responsible for filling the frame with all of the visual information we as an audience needs, but also editor Joe Galdo who assembled it in such a way that it made sense apart from any spoken word.

This approach to the story results at times in a slightly muddied tone, but the film never fully escapes Ponciroli’s grasp. Simply, without words too keep things in line, audiences individual reactions to individual scenes can turn the tone in something of a Rorschach Test in that there is no right or wrong answer and every answer will be unique. The forfeiting of the reigns by Ponciroli shows an incredible trust in his own direction – and it is a well-founded trust at that – but he is also putting the onus on the audience to keep up with the narrative. Some of the scenes do go on a little longer than they may have had the characters been speaking, but this form breaking approach gives Motor City a live wire feel that is missing from many of its colleagues in the genre.

It is a feat that builds off of the traditions of impressionist silent cinema, but it hardly feels like a “modern silent film.” Some of this is due to the period setting that eschews the ability of the filmmakers to substitute cell phone texting for intertitles, rather, Motor City is specifically set in an in-between time of these two technological eras where everything is so rooted in the analog that it is mostly ignored because its use serves no true purpose. The reason it is unfair and inappropriate to classify Motor City as a modern silent is because the film is bursting with modern sound, specifically in a soundtrack supervised by Galdo who shamelessly just plays the hits.

It is not just in the sound and needle drops, the visuals are incredibly propulsive as well. Frenetically, yet cohesively cut, the film can easily be divided into two parts: before becoming aware of the lack of dialogue and after. Once the realization is made, audiences will either shut down or lock in, and though Matsiak’s colors are not particularly vibrant as he opts for the dirty and grimy hues like the underside of fingernails stained by motor oil, the frame never lack excitement. The typical meter from line reads that is lost from the lack of 2.5″ margined text is instead poured into the action we see, and likewise, when we cut away becomes as equally important in our understanding of the story. Matsiak’s camera – again, in the tradition of silent cinema – slows down or speeds up, and its sometimes peculiar framing of its actors, specifically Ritchson, conveys so much, taking the angles that some filmmakers employ subtlety and instead cracking open the vertex to create bold, in-your-face imagery not unlike the frames of a graphic novel.

Ritchson has to carry the film on his broad shoulders, a feat which he is successful, albeit straining during some of the setup sequences. Without dialogue, being the through line of the film strangely topples him into blank slate territory and while he shines during the action sequence, the intermediary scenes do not offer him much room to stretch. Supporting him in front of the lens is Woodley’s Sophia in the thankless role as both a mob boss wife but also at times a waitress at a rusty spoon diner. She gets to play in broad strokes to help convey the gist of the story, and while none of these characters are especially deep or well formed, she is one of the more engaging characters that help to breathe life into the titular Motor City that is otherwise inhabited by drones. Opposite her is Foster in the standout performance of the film getting to really lean into the camp of playing the heavy, prancing around the frame with a manic energy that is impossible to look away from.

Motor City is an experience unlike much else in the market today. Vaguely experimental while still remaining starkly commercial, the film packs a punch and its near-relentless pacing helps keep audiences keyed into the screen. The world is realized, but shallow, allowing audiences to use their backing knowledge of the mafia and revenge genres to fill in the gaps while the cast gets to play. Mostly successful, there are endless threads to pull at, but it is another bold and stylistic title from Ponciroli who is building a resume of interesting titles running counter to the homogeny of the market and that it is mostly successful is something that should be celebrated.