'Motor City,' 1970s-set thriller with Jack White score, debuts trailer

Adam Graham, The Detroit NewsWed, May 6, 2026 at 6:24 PM UTC

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Alan Ritchson in "Motor City."

Alan Ritchson muscles his way through 1970s Detroit in "Motor City," a new action thriller which is due in theaters July 24.

A teaser trailer for the movie — which features a score by Jack White — was unveiled on Wednesday.

The movie, which is largely wordless, stars Ritchson ("Reacher") as a man seeking revenge after being released from prison. From the movie's logline: "In 1970s Detroit, a working-class romantic is framed by a ruthless gangster after falling for his girlfriend. After years in prison, he returns with only one mission: revenge."

"Motor City" also stars Shailene Woodley, Pablo Schreiber, Ben Foster and Ben McKenzie and is directed by Potsy Ponciroli ("Greedy People").

Watch the trailer here:

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"Motor City" was filmed in northern New Jersey in 2024. The trailer does show one shot of the tower on top of the Fox Theatre, a detail which wasn't added to the building in 2006, well after the film's timeline.

The film debuted in 2025 at the Venice International Film Festival and also played the Toronto International Film Festival. It received mixed early reviews from festival critics; the Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney took issue with its "weak script" and its "stylistic gimmick," adding, "While it's not without entertainment value, 'Motor City' feels like it wants to be Don Siegel meets Michael Mann meets Walter Hill with a dash of John Woo, but ends up an ersatz version of all their work."

Meanwhile, the Daily Beast's Nick Schager wrote, "'Motor City' takes the muscle-over-mouthiness template to an aggravatingly unfulfilling extreme."

Independent Film Company is releasing "Motor City." It received an R rating for strong bloody violence, some grisly images, drug content, sexuality/nudity and language, according to the Motion Picture Association.

agraham@detroitnews.com

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Watch trailer for 'Motor City,' Detroit-set thriller due out in July

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