From The Hollywood Reporter · Caryn James · · 1m 30s
Michelle Yeoh, a kidnapping, and a director who still sees patients
Roshan Sethi wrote a rom-com, a novel and a Fox drama, and still practices oncology. His new thriller puts all of it on screen.
In brief
Roshan Sethi wrote a rom-com, a novel and a Fox drama, and still practices oncology. His new thriller puts all of it on screen. The Surgeon works because Sethi refuses to pick a lane, blending medical drama, crime thriller, action and midnight movie into one wildly entertaining swirl. Originally reported by The…
The résumé that humbles you
Roshan Sethi has stacked up more careers than most people manage one of. Reading his credits is a small act of self-harm for anyone keeping score.
“Roshan Sethi has a résumé that could make the most accomplished among us feel like underachievers.”
Three features and a novel
His 2024 rom-com A Nice Indian Boy was thoroughly charming. Two months ago he published The Simp, a funny Hollywood satire.
He built a Fox drama too
Sethi co-created The Resident, the Fox medical series. So the hospital setting in his new film is not borrowed territory.
Still an oncologist
For a couple of months a year, Sethi goes back to treating patients as a radiation oncologist at a Boston hospital. The day job never fully stopped.
Four movies at once
The Surgeon is part medical drama in the vein of The Pitt but gorier, part tense crime thriller, part action movie, part midnight movie, all laced with wit.
“a genre-bending swirl”
The verdict
All that ambition could have collapsed into mush. Instead the film lands as one of the most purely enjoyable things at the festival.
“It is wildly entertaining.”
The big picture
The Surgeon works because Sethi refuses to pick a lane, blending medical drama, crime thriller, action and midnight movie into one wildly entertaining swirl.
