REVIEW: ‘The Bluff (2026)’ Fills The Swashbuckling Genre Void

Look, we need more action-adventure films. We need more swashbuckling pirate actioners, and Prime Video Original movie The Bluff (2026) is trying to fill this void. And to be honest, the Priyanka Chopra Jonas-fronted film both embodies the traditional actioner tropes and fight sequences that have come to define the genre for Hollywood in the wake of John Wick and the pirate grit that makes action-adventure exciting. 

Directed by Frank E. Flowers and written by Flowers and Joe Ballarini, The Bluff (2026) is modern cinema meets 19th-century context when Ercell Boden’s (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) past rises from the sea to confront her. When her husband, T.H. Boden (Ismael Cruz Córdova), is raided by Captain Fernando Connor (Karl Urban) and his crew, they discover that his ship is in possession of gold bearing Captain Connor’s mark. This discovery leads Connor and his crew to Ercell’s doorstep in the Cayman Islands. 

Unaware that her husband has the gold, she waits for him to return, scanning the sea for boats nightly and stoking hope in her son Isaac’s (Vedanten Naidoo) heart when she gets the chance. A mother and a sister-in-law to the young Elizabeth (Safia Oakley-Green), Ercell’s life is far from her bloody past on a pirate ship. In the middle of the night, Ercell’s life is torn open, and she has to become “Bloody Mary” one last time. 

The Bluff (2026) is a reminder of why we need more action-adventure films.

The Bluff is in conversation with films like John Wick and The Villainess, but maintains a unique edge to its period revenge story. With a focus on survival, The Bluff doesn’t keep Ercell clean and proper. Instead, her ability with a gun and a sword, and her intellect for setting traps, allow her to rip through Connor’s crew and protect her family. 

Ercell matches Connor’s violence and brutality easily against the breathtaking backdrop of the Cayman Brac’s Skull Cave and towering bluffs thanks to its on-location set. This is one of the rare period thrillers we’ve seen recently, and as an original story, Copra Jonas’ Ercell isn’t constrained by anything. The inventive kills and loud use of explosions always feel exciting. 

As a Caymanian filmmaker, Flowers captures the beauty of the Cayman Islands while also using this revenge story to offer historical context on British colonialism. Yes, even in this action-adventure film, the narrative still showcases that the brutality at sea was backed by the British, especially when it came to colonization. But the most important thing is that none of that beats the audience over the head; instead, it’s just part of the film and the history in which Ercell and Connor’s rivalry exists. 

Karl Urban is the villain to both love and hate.

The film’s antagonist is played excellently by Karl Urban. As Captain Fernando Connor, Urban is angry, vile, and laser-focused on just taking back his gold. As The Bluff’s violence continues to escalate, it becomes clearer that Ercell didn’t just steal Connor’s gold; she escaped him. 

Captain Connor’s “possessions” included her, and, as a colonizer for the East India Company, he wielded his sword swiftly and helped build the British Empire. Despite living under British rule now, Ercell’s home in the Caribbean is a paradise, and one where she has been able to rebuild her life and make a name for herself that isn’t tied to piracy or Connor. 

Without heavy-handedly explaining the intricacies of the trauma, both mental and physical, that Ercell suffered on the sea, The Bluff (2026) does show how it shaped her. The film doesn’t spend too much time defining her pain, only what she did after, and bolstering the deep-running feud between Ercell and Connor. 

This is Priyanka Chopra Jonas’s most physical role yet, and she excels.

As Ercell, Priyanka Chopra Jonas delivers her best action performance yet, showing off her physicality. She is a blood-soaked heroine, with close-quarters combat and thoughtful gunplay, thanks to 1800s technology. Embodying revenge, The Bluff smartly develops Ercell from a mother protecting her family from a home invasion to a woman dedicated to killing every man who would harm her son or husband. 

We don’t have too many revenge-soaked actioners with female leads, and especially those that don’t play in stereotypical territories. Joining Ana De Armas’ Ballerina as one of the few US titles in recent memory, The Bluff (2026) is genuinely a standout. Much of that is thanks to director Frank E. Flowers and his trust in his actors (and stunt crew) to pull off some astounding feats.

A common theme in American action films with female leads is that their choreography is often reduced to choppy jump cuts and edits that make them look slow at best and, at worst, very visibly not them. The Bluff’s action success lies in how well the action sequences are executed, the innovative nature of the set pieces, and how Chopra Jonas matches genre veteran Karl Urban’s intensity in every fight. 

Ercell’s transformation into “Bloody Mary” is grounded in the need to protect and avenge, tapping into the Wickian ethos that viewers have come to expect from the genre in Hollywood. Through that, Ercell doesn’t lose herself, but instead, as she takes on Captain Connor, she begins to reclaim parts of her identity that were stolen from her when she was a pirate. 

Chad Stahelski’s influence on action choreography is evident in The Bluff (2026).

While some of the background information in the narrative can feel like exposition dumps, those moments pay off by showing the audience who Bloody Mary is. The Bluff (2026) shows and tells the audience in a way that helps keep the film’s pace as the tension mounts throughout. 

Narratively, The Bluff actively taps into the feminine rage and the striking nature of a mother’s love. Chopra Jonas plays her role perfectly. The film’s humor and heart come when we see Ercell’s two parts coming together one after the other.

In the first act, we see this after she brutally murders intruders. With her son scared in the moment, her face immediately changes. Covered in blood, but trying to calm him, she immediately flips into a caring mother, showing that throughout The Bluff (2026), she is both her rage and her love. While Citadel may have been a rough showing for Chopra Jonas on Prime Video (another Anthony and Joe Russo-produced joint), The Bluff (2026) more than solidifies her as a go-to for future action films.

Rage and heart come together in this revenge tale, where Ercell unleashes warranted violence.

It’s this piece of the film that makes it stand out, particularly because, as much as the film is about her fighting for her family, she is also fighting to reclaim who she is and, more importantly, stop Captain Connor from ever coming after her again. Ercell isn’t defined by her motherhood or her love for her husband; these elements are important to her as a character, but the revenge is also for herself. 

While the dialogue doesn’t always hold up with the focus often being witty one-liners (that do land extremely well), the actioner always lands where it counts. With set pieces to die for and innovative uses of 19th-century technology and weaponry, the work creates something extremely exciting and unique. This is a swashbuckling actioner by way of Chad Stahelski-inspired fight choreography. 

The film’s only real issue comes in its third act, with glaring costume and styling decisions that change erratically over time, most notably in Isaac’s hair, which goes from loose to braided in different sections as the film continues. It’s distracting at times and is also similarly done with Ercell’s increasingly dirtied appearance across fights, seeming to change from scene to scene. However, none of that is enough to draw and quarter this film. 

The Bluff (2026) understands what audiences have come to expect from action movies. The armory close-ups, the surprise close-quarters grappling, and weapons that seem out of time yet show innovation, all of it used to replicate the very best tropes of actioners, and to do it in the 1800s. With Priyanka Chopra Jonas at its center, she gives her best action performance in a film that embodies the modern revenge story and the swashbuckling pirate tales we don’t get anymore. 

The Bluff (2026) is streaming now, exclusively on Prime Video.