The Stunt Driver is a 2026 Canadian historical comedy film written and directed by Michael Dowse, based on the life of Canadian daredevil stuntman Ken Carter. The cast is led by Jay Baruchel, Ed Helms, Ben Foster, Laurence Leboeuf, and Dan Bakkedahl.
Contents
Premise
In the 1970s, stuntman Ken Carter, known as "The Mad Canadian" due to his daredevil stunts, plans to drive a rocket car across the Saint-Laurent river, from a 90-foot-high ramp.
Cast
Jay Baruchel as Ken Carter
Ed Helms as Dick Keller
Ben Foster as Evel Knievel
Laurence Leboeuf as Gloria
Dan Bakkedahl as Bill Wilkins
Joe Cobden as Bob Fortier
Marc Beaupré as Danny Lafortune
Jonathan Cherry as Ricky
Production
The film is written and directed by Michael Dowse and is based on the true story of the "Mad Canadian" stunt driver who had fame with his daredevil stunts, and the National Film Board of Canada's 1981 documentary The Devil at Your Heels. It is produced by Dowse and Jennifer Wilson through Cardinal Films with Macdara Kelleher and Eoin Egan for Wild Atlantic Pictures.
The cast is led by Jay Baruchel. Ed Helms, Ben Foster, Laurence Leboeuf and Dan Bakkedahl, Joe Cobden and Marc Beaupré, joined the cast in October 2025.
Principal photography was underway in Montreal in September 2025. Filming locations included the St. Lawrence River between Boucherville and Varennes, Quebec in Canada, the following month.
Release
The film premiered at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival, and was theatrically released on September 25, 2026.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 73% of 41 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.4/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 60 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.