This Month’s New Action Thriller Explodes Into the Found-Footage Genre to Tell a Brutal Revenge Story

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Get ready for an intense action movie that blends thrilling shootouts and brutal fights with the classic revenge story – all filmed in the style of found footage. It’s a high-stakes genre mashup where pushing your limits is key.

After the massive hit of The Blair Witch Project in 1999, horror films quickly adopted the found footage style – and still do today. Movies like Paranormal Activity, Rec, and Cloverfield demonstrated just how effective this technique could be. While a few other genres, like sci-fi (Chronicle), crime thrillers (End of Watch), and even teen comedies (Project X), have experimented with the format, action movies have generally avoided it – until recently.

Get ready for intense action in The Workout, a new thriller from director . This film follows an Army Ranger seeking revenge after his wife is killed. The movie stars Peter Jae (Blackhat, Darkness of Man), Augie Duke (Mayans M.C., Yellowjackets), Josh Kelly (Transformers: Dark of the Moon), and more. The Workout premiered at Fantastic Fest and had a limited theatrical release in August. Now, you can watch it on demand or buy the Blu-ray starting October 28, 2025. Check out the trailer and details below!

This action movie, presented as found footage, follows two army rangers who start making a workout video. Their project is quickly derailed when a mafia hit occurs during filming, and one of the rangers’ wives is killed. Driven by grief and a thirst for revenge, he embarks on a determined quest to eliminate the mobsters and anyone connected to the attack.

‘The Workout’ Could Kick Down the Door to More Found-Footage Action Thrillers

James Cullen Bressack, the director and writer (along with David Josh Lawrence) of The Workout, has a history of working with action stars like Bruce Willis, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Mel Gibson, and Steven Seagal. The Workout is a low-budget film, and while reviews are mixed, many critics appreciated its creative use of the found-footage style and hope it inspires similar approaches in future films.

Critics have mixed feelings about The Workout, with Rotten Tomatoes giving it a 58

I have to say, even though a few people found the revenge story a little predictable, I really enjoyed The Workout. Film Threat’s Bobby LePire gave it a fantastic 8 out of 10, and I agree with his take – it’s a surprisingly emotional film, delivered with some seriously intense and well-done action.

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2025-10-22 16:17