Home · Entertainment · Sep 13 archive
Michelle Yeoh's Surgeon Debut at Toronto Film Festival
Confirmed
In Short: Michelle Yeoh's performance as a retired surgeon turned action hero in 'The Surgeon' has impressed critics at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Michelle Yeoh's performance as a retired surgeon turned action hero in 'The Surgeon' has impressed critics at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film, which had its world premiere tonight, showcases Yeoh's exceptional martial arts skills and surgical expertise, making it a standout at the festival.
According to reports from Deadline, Yeoh's character, Eliza Lim, uses her scalpel and hands to turn every key body part into a death sentence, particularly in a clock-ticking demonstration of her lethal abilities. Her martial arts skills are also on full display, as she paralyzes her opponents in delightfully precise ways.
The Hollywood Reporter notes that while the other characters are strictly stereotypes, Yeoh's performance is the film's greatest asset. Director Anirudh Sethi's screenplay is well-suited to Yeoh's strengths, and the film is tailor-made to turn up the temperature for Yeoh fans everywhere.
Yeoh's training for the role was extensive, as reported by TheWrap. She learned how to scrub in, operate, and tie knots, even observing a pig dissection at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, where the movie was shot. Her brother, a doctor himself, also helped her with her training, cutting toast like a surgeon to ensure the movements felt authentic.
Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh took her training quite seriously, aiming to make the surgical movements as authentic as possible on the big screen. Sethi's film is perfectly in sync with Yeoh's strengths, and the character is instantly recognizable, even though the film is not a character study.
What's confirmed
- Michelle Yeoh's performance as a retired surgeon turned action hero in 'The Surgeon' has impressed critics at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film, which had its world premiere tonight, showcases Yeoh's exceptional martial arts skills and surgical expertise, making it a standout at the festival.
- According to reports from Deadline, Yeoh's character, Eliza Lim, uses her scalpel and hands to turn every key body part into a death sentence, particularly in a clock-ticking demonstration of her lethal abilities. Her martial arts skills are also on full display, as she paralyzes her opponents in delightfully precise ways.
- The Hollywood Reporter notes that while the other characters are strictly stereotypes, Yeoh's performance is the film's greatest asset. Director Anirudh Sethi's screenplay is well-suited to Yeoh's strengths, and the film is tailor-made to turn up the temperature for Yeoh fans everywhere.
- Yeoh's training for the role was extensive, as reported by TheWrap. She learned how to scrub in, operate, and tie knots, even observing a pig dissection at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, where the movie was shot. Her brother, a doctor himself, also helped her with her training, cutting toast like a surgeon to ensure the movements felt authentic.
- Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh took her training quite seriously, aiming to make the surgical movements as authentic as possible on the big screen. Sethi's film is perfectly in sync with Yeoh's strengths, and the character is instantly recognizable, even though the film is not a character study.
What's still developing
- Yeoh’s martial arts skills really come into play in battling these guys by manipulating their mobility in delightfully paralyzing ways.
- Although Freeman creates a fairly dimensional character while the other baddies are strictly stereotypes, it is Yeoh that makes this enterprise worth watching.
- Yeoh, of course, started out in martial arts films, but that is not the kind of action displayed here.
- TIFF 2026: “It was really important for me, so that when I did the movements and all that, it looked real,” the actress tells TheWrap For her role as a kidnapped surgeon forced to perform one last operation in the action thriller “The Surgeon,” Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh took her training to the next level by learning how to actually perform surgery.
- “My brother sent some very funny short films where I had asked him to cut toast like a surgeon, just so everything felt like a surgeon,” Sethi said.