{"id":1992722,"date":"2025-09-02T12:55:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T12:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=1992722"},"modified":"2025-09-02T12:55:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T12:55:09","slug":"motor-city-a-set-in-detroit-action-movie-with-barely-any-dialogue-hits-2-big-festivals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/motor-city-a-set-in-detroit-action-movie-with-barely-any-dialogue-hits-2-big-festivals\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Motor City,&#8217; a set-in-Detroit action movie with barely any dialogue, hits 2 big festivals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">There are no words for the latest movie aiming to be the quintessential Detroit flick, \u201cMotor City.\u201d Well, almost, sort of.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The action film, which had its world premiere Aug. 30 at the Venice Film Festival and arrives Sept. 4 at <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/tiff.net\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:the Toronto International Film Festival;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">the Toronto International Film Festival<\/a>, has critics buzzing about its nearly complete lack of dialogue. There are five or four or three lines of hearable dialogue, depending on whom you ask.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Potsy Ponciroli, the director of &#8220;Motor City,&#8221; which will be screened at the Toronto International Film Festival.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cYou\u2019ve heard of silent movies? This is a loud movie, except that it does away with words,\u201d <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/motor-city-review-shut-up-weve-got-an-action-flick-goin-on-here\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:opined the Wrap;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">opined the Wrap <\/a>in its early festival review from Italy. \u201cThat leaves room for lots of quiet glowering and for a bunch of grunts, groans, thuds, thwacks, oofs, crunches, screams, explosions and assorted nasty sounds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2025\/08\/motor-city-review-potsy-poncirolis-ben-foster-shailene-woodley-venice-1236502263\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Deadline called it;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Deadline called it <\/a>\u201ca dazzling demonstration of how well filmmakers and their audiences understand the vocabulary of cinema and of genre cinema in particular.\u201d In other words, practically no words necessary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">As the home of muscle cars, Detroit knows something about speaking softly and carrying a big engine. Why use dialogue when sheer, raw muscle will do?<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cMotor City\u201d stars Alan Ritchson of Amazon Prime Video&#8217;s popular series \u201cJack Reacher\u201d as an autoworker named John Miller who is targeted by a drug dealer (Ben Foster) and a crooked policeman (Pablo Schreiber). Framed and put in prison, John emerges out for revenge and ready to reunite with fianc\u00e9e he was been ripped apart from, Sophia (Shailene Woodley).<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The story is set in 1970s Detroit, but the Motor City is played by New Jersey (which, unlike Michigan, has a film incentives program). The entire movie contains about five lines of dialogue. But it has enough fight scenes to fill entire seasons of \u201cStarsky &amp; Hutch,\u201d \u201cThe Streets of San Francisco,\u201d \u201cKojak\u201d and other \u201870s era action dramas. <\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In the slang of that landline era, it sounds totally off the hook.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In a statement to the Venice Film Festival, &#8220;Motor City&#8221; director Potsy Ponciroli explained that he set out to make a visual experience that is \u201ckinetic, immersive, and designed to be felt as much as seen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Wrote Ponciroli: \u201cThe absence of words allowed us to lean fully into the physical language of the characters. The score, pacing, sound design and music drive the emotional and narrative momentum. The result is a high octane experience where tension builds with precision on a very sonic level.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The score, peppered with rock classics like Fleetwood Mac\u2019s \u201cThe Chain&#8221;, was curated by Detroit alt-rock icon Jack White, according to the Toronto festival. <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/tiff.net\/films\/motor-city\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:TIFF's description of \u201cMotor City\u201d;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">TIFF&#8217;s description of \u201cMotor City\u201d <\/a>calls it \u201ca cinematic symphony of muscle cars, gunfire, and heartbreak.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The film is on the market for a distribution deal to bring it to multiplexes. Prospects seem good that someone will sign on the dotted line during or soon after the Toronto event.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Not surprisingly, those involved in &#8220;Motor City&#8221; hope it will be more than just an art-house experiment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">As <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2025\/film\/global\/alan-ritchson-motor-city-batman-casting-1236500321\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Ritchson told Variety;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Ritchson told Variety<\/a> recently. &#8220;Obviously, it\u2019s a huge choice to not rely on dialogue, but I want this to be commercial. I want everybody to enjoy this and it not just to be for a tiny niche audience. And I think we did it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><em>Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds at jhinds@freepress.com.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><em>This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.freep.com\/story\/entertainment\/movies\/2025\/09\/02\/motor-city-has-barely-any-dialogue-but-has-critics-buzzingmovie-with-barely-any-dialogue-could-becom\/85889887007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:'Motor City' has barely any dialogue, but has film critics buzzing;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">&#8216;Motor City&#8217; has barely any dialogue, but has film critics buzzing<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are no words for the latest movie aiming to be the quintessential Detroit flick, \u201cMotor City.\u201d Well, almost, sort of. The action film, which had its world premiere Aug. 30 at the Venice Film Festival and arrives Sept. 4 at the Toronto International Film Festival, has critics buzzing about its nearly complete lack of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1992723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[23427,346166,360412,318702,333428],"class_list":["post-1992722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-detroit","tag-john-miller","tag-muscle-cars","tag-toronto-international-film-festival","tag-venice-film-festival"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Motor-City-a-set-in-Detroit-action-movie-with-barely-any-dialogue.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1992722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1992723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1992722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1992722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1992722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}