'The Workout' Review: A Raw, Found-Footage Action Thriller with a Vengeance
- Romey Norton
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
By Romey Norton - August 27, 2025
Action cinema often thrives on its simplicity: a wronged hero, a brutal loss, and an unstoppable mission for revenge. The Workout, the latest passion project from filmmaker James Cullen Bressack, embraces that formula while filtering it through the scrappy immediacy of found-footage filmmaking. The result is a gritty, stripped-down thriller that feels like Death Wish meets Blair Witch Project, with a heavy dose of adrenaline.
What is the film The Workout about?
The film opens with a tragically ironic twist. Our protagonist, an Army Ranger, has plans to launch a workout video empire. His life promises stability, purpose, and maybe even a softer side after years of service. But when a mob hits at his gym and takes a shot at his pregnant wife, everything changes. Now he’s on a mission to get revenge with the help of his brother-in-law, Levi.
The most striking choice here is form. Action films rarely lean into found footage, a style more often reserved for horror. But Bressack makes the technique feel surprisingly natural. The handheld chaos gives the combat scenes an immediacy and danger; every punch, gunshot, and ambush feels messier, scarier, and more human. However, at times, the shaky camera can be disorienting and distracting (viewers prone to motion sickness should take note), and there are a lot of cuts from one handheld to another, to CCTV, so some scenes feel very heavy.
The action film stars Peter Jae (Darkness of Man), Josh Kelly (General Hospital), and UFC fighter Ashlee Evans-Smith. The lead’s performance carries the emotional weight, grief hardened into fury, but the film wisely doesn’t dwell too long in melodrama. All the supporting roles, though less developed, add texture to the mob world, giving the Ranger enemies that feel dangerous enough to justify the carnage.
The pacing keeps the film lean; at under an hour and a half, it doesn’t overstay its welcome, and the found-footage/CCTV style format ensures momentum rarely lags.
As the story continues, Wyatt's health declines, but like a dog with a bone, he can’t let go of his need for vengeance. From this news, the ending might be a little predictable, but he goes out with a fierce bang. The film ends with a cheesy flashforward to give the ending a rounded, wholesome touch.
Is the film The Workout worth watching?
The Workout won’t be for everyone. If you prefer your action polished, choreographed, and easy to follow, this scrappy, handheld experiment might frustrate you. But for fans of raw revenge cinema, and for those intrigued by the collision of found footage and action, it’s a refreshing jolt of energy. It’s not trying to reinvent the genre so much as strip it back to the bone: a man, his loss, his rage, and the camera that won’t look away.
Where can I watch the film The Workout?
Premiering at Fantastic Fest in Austin, The Workout feels right at home among genre-bending films that thrive on energy and invention over polish. You can sense the camaraderie behind the camera, with Bressack describing the film as “a community of friends coming together to make something fun.”
'The Workout' releases on US digital platforms August 28.
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