'John Wick' meets 'The Pitt' in Michelle Yeoh’s new thriller 'The Surgeon'

Michelle Yeoh’s The Surgeon blends John Wick action with The Pitt medical drama as the thriller premieres at TIFF now

Michelle Yeoh is set to star in The Surgeon, a new thriller that combines elements of the action-driven John Wick franchise with the medical drama The Pitt.

The film stars Yeoh as a former physician who is abducted by a criminal gang and forced to perform surgery on its injured leader. The Surgeon premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, with Entertainment Weekly unveiling first-look images from the film.

To prepare for the role, Yeoh trained at a hospital to learn how to realistically portray a doctor performing surgical procedures. Her preparation included cutting into a pig to understand how to handle surgical instruments and work with tissue similar to what she would encounter during filming.

Real surgeons were also present on the set to monitor Yeoh’s technique, including how she held instruments and performed procedures.

Unlike many of Yeoh’s previous action roles, her character in The Surgeon is not presented as particularly athletic. Instead, the character uses her medical knowledge to incapacitate people, with the film exploring how precise medical skills can become dangerous in the wrong circumstances.

The thriller also has a direct connection to the John Wick franchise through producer Basil Iwanyk, who produced all four John Wick films as well as Ballerina and The Continental.

Roshan Sethi directed and wrote The Surgeon, bringing his own medical background as a surgeon to the project. He has also worked as a writer on Code Black and co-created The Resident.

Yeoh is joined in the cast by Martin Freeman, Laurie Davidson, Yuri Kolokolnikov and Joseph Mydell. Following its TIFF premiere, The Surgeon does not yet have an announced theatrical release date.