Concocted with equal parts silliness and endearment, Roshan Sethi’s The Surgeon is a bombastically fun thrill ride of a film. Michelle Yeoh delivers a pitch-perfect performance as a grizzly and recently retired surgeon, in what might be the most fun film to experience at the cinema this year.
After being forced into retirement, a once renowned surgeon (Yeoh) spends her days peacefully at home. Noticeably bored with her now mundane life, things are upended when she’s suddenly kidnapped by a group of local thugs. After being brought to an undisclosed location, she’s forced to perform surgery on an unknown figure, all while figuring out a way to escape. A thrilling, energetic story follows, sprinkled with blood and humour.
As a genre film, The Surgeon soars with its intelligent set pieces, working around a retired surgeon’s wits, as opposed to her actual fighting abilities. Having the legendary Yeoh star in an action-based narrative, in a role void of any combative skills, almost seems blasphemous on paper. Yet, Yeoh is just as ferocious as any character she’s played before. Having her rely more on intellect in order to supplement her limited physical prowess also presents as more age appropriate and believable, and Yeoh carries the film on her more than capable shoulders.
Sethi crafts every bloody sequence in The Surgeon to be thoughtfully entertaining, and presumably medically accurate (to the extent that a movie like this might allow) given the director’s background as a physician. There’s a dynamic energy to the film that keeps the narrative in full gear, which heightens its commercial sensibilities, without forgoing the story’s more serious undertones. At times, The Surgeon renders a bit too silly for its own good, but nothing feels completely out of place in the eclectic world constructed within the film.
At its core, the movie examines the quarrels of retirement, particularly for those who chose to dedicate their whole life to work. Sethi’s screenplay contains real moments of contemplation injected into this wild ride, elevating the story beyond its fun premise. The Surgeon is far from being a profound or deep character study, but these moments ultimately accentuate the narrative’s more affecting moments, creating a sense of endearment for a surgeon who seems bitter and emotionally isolated.
Martin Freeman also shines as the film’s antagonist, and his dry humour is showcased through the script’s sharp dialogue. Song choices in the film are also spot on, with what seems like a bottomless pit of perfect needle drops. The Surgeon does falter a bit in its third act, treading territories of implausibility, and deviating from the clever trajectory that the film initially aligned with. However, the ending itself is still satisfying, at least thematically speaking, even if the plot doesn’t necessarily stand on its own two feet.
The Surgeon delivers a fun time at the movies with intelligent commercial filmmaking that will hopefully appeal to the masses, as films of this nature are rare these days. For a director whose last film was a quaint and simple drama (2024’s A Nice Indian Boy), Roshan Sethi has made a huge leap, and continues to show promise as a unique creative force.
