Action Xtreme is coming in hot with a new teaser for Bad Day at the Office, a turbo-charged action-thriller that’s already lining up its first big moment: the film will make its World Premiere as the opening title of the prestigious Midnight Madness strand at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, before landing in UK and Irish cinemas from 30 October.
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And this isn’t action as usual. Shot entirely in first person, Bad Day at the Office plays like a high-octane thriller fused with the adrenalised logic of a video game. The chaos is captured through GoPro cameras worn by protagonists and antagonists alike—meaning every punch, chase, and explosion isn’t simply seen, it’s experienced. The film’s central promise is simple and slightly unhinged in the best way: you’re not watching the main character. You are the main character.
For audiences in Edinburgh, the immersion goes even further. On Wednesday 19 August at Cineworld Fountainbridge, festivalgoers can catch the film in 4DX, a rare format for UK film festival screenings—designed to pull you deeper into the mayhem with motion, sound, and sensory effects that turn the cinema into something closer to a ride. If Bad Day at the Office is built to overwhelm, 4DX is the full-body version.
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In terms of tone, this one is aimed squarely at fans who like their action loud, fast, and a little feral: think Hardcore Henry spliced with Crank, a dash of Call of Duty energy, and a “blink and you’ll miss it” swagger that nods to Guy Ritchie’s Snatch. At the centre is John Hannah (The Mummy) in a role that promises to flip expectations, backed by a cast that includes Radha Mitchell (Pitch Black), Tamer Hassan (The Football Factory), and Lana Parrilla (Once Upon a Time), alongside Tim Fellingham (Final Destination 5), Roxanne McKee (Game of Thrones), Branko Tomović (24: Live Another Day) and Victor Gardener (Fast and Furious 6).
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Directed by Chee Keong Cheung, the film drops us into a nightmare with no map. Karl (Hannah) wakes in a wrecked hotel room with a splitting headache—but this isn’t a hangover. He has no memory of what happened, where he is, or even who he is. Then he finds a dead body in the bathtub. Moments later, two police officers are knocking at the door. From there, the story detonates into a frantic descent through confusion, conspiracy, and survival instinct.
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Forced on the run with hotel maid Molly (Mitchell), Karl becomes the target of a city-wide pursuit—half the city seemingly ready to kill him before he can piece together the truth. With a price on his head and his past erased, he’ll have to draw on forgotten skills he doesn’t even know he has, racing to unravel the mystery behind his missing memories before the next door gets kicked in.
Edinburgh’s Festival Producer Emma Boa sums up the film’s appeal with the kind of endorsement Midnight Madness was built for, calling it: “Shot in the style of first-person shooter video games with cine-literate wit, humor, ferocious pacing and a cracking soundtrack, this is an anarchic, ultra-violent and hilarious thrill ride of pure, cinematic carnage… The ultimate Midnight Madness experience.”
If you like your cinema breathless, brutal, and unapologetically fun, Bad Day at the Office is positioning itself as the kind of premiere you don’t just watch—you survive.
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Image courtesy of Strike Media
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