The Bluff Parent Guide

In the 19th century, Ercell (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) loves the life she built on a remote Caribbean island. Her husband, T.H. (Ismael Cruz Cordova), is the captain of a fishing vessel, and Ercell keeps their home and cares for their son (Vedanten Naidoo) and her sister-in-law (Safia Oakley-Green). But when T.H. is abducted by pirates hunting for gold that was stolen from them many years ago, Ercell’s mysterious past comes knocking at her door. As the pirates close in, Ercell prepares to defend her island home and protect her family. But Captain Connor (Karl Urban), will stop at nothing to take back what is his. 

Let me be blunt: I believe we need more pirates on our screens. We get so many vampires and superheroes, but since the Pirates of the Caribbean series concluded almost a decade ago, we haven’t seen enough rip-roaring piracy. Though not a perfect movie, The Bluff did a lot to satisfy my hunger for some good old fashioned swashbuckling. 

A lot of reviews have compared this film to John Wick, and I think that’s an apt comparison. Both movies center on a protagonist with a flair for killing, and a story focused on fighting a seemingly endless number of bad guys. Setting a John Wick-style flick in 19th century with a female protagonist is a great idea on paper; sadly, this production fails to live up to John Wick’s sharp writing and clean fight choreography. To be honest, I had a fun time watching The Bluff, and I think it’s an enjoyable, if bloody, action/revenge triller, but it lacks the depth it needed to reach a higher level. The story is simple, the characters lack substance, and the action is a mixed bag. Some of the fight sequences are highly creative and well done, while others are generic and badly lit and shot. That said, Chopra Jonas and Urban are fantastic leads, and their chemistry as enemies is fantastic. They both commit fully to their performances and are the best part of the film by far. 

Audiences with an aversion to blood and killing will want to skip this one, since swashbuckling slaughter is the main point of the movie. For genre fans like me, however, The Bluff is an enjoyable film. I recommend it for a fun period piece – something I wish we saw more of on screens both large and small. 

About author

Savannah Sillito

Savannah Sillito is a librarian with a master's in library science, a bachelor's degree in English, and a certificate in early childhood education. She enjoys nonfiction books, travel, and is a staunch proponent of the Oxford comma.