One-Liners and a Machete: Priyanka Chopra Returns to Action as Pirate ‘Bloody Mary’ in ‘The Bluff’

Priyanka Chopra Jonas has returned to action cinema with “The Bluff,” a grisly 19th-century pirate drama that dropped on Amazon Prime Video on Feb. 25, marking her first project as lead Hollywood producer through her company Purple Pebble Pictures.

Set in the 1840s Caribbean, the R-rated film positions Chopra Jonas as Ercell “Bloody Mary” Bodden, a former pirate captain turned mother trying to protect her family when her violent past invades her doorstep. The film represents a deliberate shift back into physical, action-heavy territory for the 43-year-old global star.

A Personal Connection

For Chopra Jonas, the role carried deep historical resonance. Her character’s background as an indentured servant turned pirate connected to her own Indian heritage.

“I really loved the world that we were going into. It was so unique and so interesting. (In cinema), I haven’t seen anything about pirate life during the British colonial era and how their lives used to be,” Chopra Jonas told t2ONLINE. “Plus, the fact that it was the East India Company and my character’s family in the movie are shown to be indentured servants, which is so true to the history of our country as well as the history of the world.”

According to In Review Online, Indo-Caribbean people arrived through “indentured servitude, slavery, and the colonial treachery of the British Empire.”

Interestingly, IMDb users noticed that inscriptions of Mary’s name shown in the film are written in Malayalam, the official language of Kerala state in India. According to IMDb, “Priyanka Chopra’s maternal grandmother Mary John (later converted to Hinduism as Mrs. Akhouri) was a native of Kerala.”

The Plot

“For this one, you should probably forget everything you think you know about pirate movies,” Pulse Nigeria advised. “The Bluff, which dropped on Prime Video on February 25th, is not interested in swashbuckling adventure or treasure maps and talking parrots. It is a home invasion thriller that happens to be set in the 19th-century Caribbean.”

The film follows Ercell Bodden, who has built a quiet life in the Cayman Islands with her husband T.H. Bodden (Ismael Cruz Córdova), her sister-in-law Elizabeth (Safia Oakley-Green), and her physically disabled son. Her domestic calm collapses when ruthless Captain Connor (Karl Urban) arrives seeking both gold and Ercell herself.

Unlike Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, “The Bluff” has “very little seafaring, the violence is grueling, and it’s about small folk rather than rich captains and governors’ daughters,” according to In Review Online.

FilmoGaz described the film’s action as “visceral, splatter-tinged combat,” noting that the home invasion sequence “escalates into gritty hand-to-hand violence — she jerr rigs a machete in five seconds flat, slashes with a dagger, and resorts to brutal improvisations such as pulling an attacker’s dreadlocks out by the roots.”

Critical Reception

The film has received mixed-to-positive reviews, with a 68% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 25 reviews.

**The Guardian (Owen Myers – 3/5 stars):**

Owen Myers of The Guardian gave the film 3 out of 5 stars in his Feb. 24, 2026 review. “Chopra Jonas gamely commits to the pulpiness of The Bluff, even as it doesn’t ask much of her beyond its impressive action sequences and a few tart one-liners. But there’s cinematic swoop to the movie that you might not expect,” according to The Guardian.

For Chopra Jonas, the role carried deep historical resonance. Her character’s background as an indentured servant turned pirate connected to her own Indian heritage.

**The New York Times (Glenn Kenny):**

The New York Times published its review on Feb. 25, 2026, with critic Glenn Kenny offering praise for Chopra Jonas’s performance: “Chopra Jonas performs the female pirate version of ‘having it all’ quite credibly; she’s the highlight of this chaotic enterprise,” according to The New York Times via DNYUZ.

The Times noted the film’s Caribbean authenticity: “The movie is directed by Frank E. Flowers, who was born and raised on the Cayman Islands. He drew on local folklore to craft his story, which he wrote with Joe Ballarini,” according to The New York Times.

Kenny described the action: “She stabs, she slashes, she shoots arrows, she shoots flintlocks,” according to The New York Times.

**RogerEbert.com (Simon Abrams – 2.5/4 stars):**

Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com gave the film 2.5 stars out of 4, offering a more critical assessment.

“‘The Bluff’ exemplifies a very enjoyable type of nostalgia-bait, even if it’s never as good as its elevator pitch,” Abrams wrote, according to RogerEbert.com.

He noted production issues: “She also rarely appears to be physically standing in front of her screen partners, a distracting problem that also hampers Urban’s performance,” according to RogerEbert.com.

However, Abrams still encouraged viewing: “The ending promises a sequel, because of course it does, but I’d still encourage any curious readers to watch this first installment,” according to RogerEbert.com.

**Other Reviews:**

Abhishek Srivastava of The Times of India, quoted by Yahoo Entertainment, wrote: “While the script could have benefited from deeper character exploration, the film succeeds in showcasing Priyanka Chopra Jonas as a capable and confident action lead, proving she can command a large-scale adventure on her own terms.”

William Bibbiani of TheWrap offered faint praise: “‘The Bluff’ isn’t a bad pirate movie. If anything, it has so little competition these days that it’s probably ‘the best pirate movie in years’ by default,” according to Yahoo Entertainment.

In Review Online praised the film’s perspective: “The perspective shift is the film’s main draw. Cayman Islands native Frank E. Flowers’ approach to the industry of piracy de-romanticizes the rogue seafarers and uses grim social conditions to realize pirates that a smart viewer can root for without guilt or reprise.”

The review emphasized Chopra Jonas’s unique positioning: “Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Bollywood favorite turned international star, plays a former indentured servant (slave, though she didn’t use that word) turned retired pirate captain in the 1840s.”

“The Bluff” represents more than just a pirate movie. It’s a statement of artistic ambition, a reclamation of historical narratives connecting Indian indentured servitude to Caribbean history, and proof that Chopra Jonas remains willing to take creative risks — even when those risks involve brutal, visceral combat and pulling out attackers’ dreadlocks by the roots.

Whether audiences embrace “The Bluff” as a fresh take on pirate cinema or simply appreciate it as a competent genre exercise, the film marks an undeniable evolution in her Hollywood journey — from actress to producer, from romantic roles to grisly action, and from supporting parts to carrying the weight of a major streaming premiere.

The film premiered on Amazon Prime Video on Feb. 25, 2026, with a runtime of 1 hour and 43 minutes. FilmiBeat reported that “it will be available in English, along with dubbed versions in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi for a wider audience,” expanding its reach to Indian markets.

This story was aggregated by AI from several news reports and edited by American Kahani’s News Desk.