Edinburgh International Film Festival, (EIFF) from 13-19 August, has announced that its Midnight Madness strand will kick off with the World Premiere of Chee Keong Cheung’s newest picture.
Bad Day at the Office is a madcap action thriller shot entirely from the first-person perspective. Pitched at a breakneck speed, this inventive offering sees Karl’s (John Hannah – The Mummy) life turned upside down as he wakes up in a ruined hotel room with no recollection of how he got there. As if liver poisoning and a surely sky-high cleaning bill weren’t bad enough, there’s also a dead body in his bathtub, an unfortunate discovery that sends him on a whirlwind ride in search of answers with hotel maid, Molly (Radha Mitchell – Silent Hill) in tow…
Brought to us by British production company Action Xtreme, the film’s producers include Andreas Roald (Triangle of Sadness) and Ioanna Karavela (who previously worked with Cheung on his film Redcon-1) as well as Cheung himself, who co-writes alongside Oliver Morran (The Experiment).
Midnight Madness is any festival-goer’s one-stop-shop for the EIFF’s more off-the-wall and genre outings. Ongoing through any EIFF run, the festival staple has previously been home to such night terrors as the parasitic facehuggers of Alien: Romulus or the all too squishy cosmetic body horror of The Substance, both of which held their UK Premiere right here in the city.
With such a high pedigree of prior premieres, it’s no wonder that Cheung said: “It’s an incredible honour and privilege to be selected to screen as the opening film of the Midnight Madness strand and have our World Premiere at EIFF 2026. Bad Day at the Office was an intense, very physical, technically complex and thrilling creative journey. I was fortunate to have a truly amazing cast and crew who helped me realise this crazy epic vision.
“I’m excited to be able to share this film with audiences and hope they will have as much fun immersing themselves and going along the ride as we all had making it. I’m grateful to Paul, Emma and the entire EIFF team for their belief, support, enthusiasm and giving us this special and prestigious launch pad to introduce Bad Day at the Office into the world and their tireless efforts in championing independent filmmaking voices.”
EIFF CEO and Festival Director, Paul Ridd said: “It is always thrilling to see a filmmaker bringing something fresh, new and innovative to the action genre. This is a tremendously propulsive, ultraviolent and darkly hilarious piece of work made with consummate craft, energy and clear gleeful delight in filmmaking and carnage. What a brilliant way to kick off the mayhem in Midnight Madness with this ridiculously exciting UK film.”
The festival as a whole strives to shine a light on all sorts of exceptional new projects. “I’m grateful to Paul [and] Emma [Boa – Festival Producer]” added Cheung, “and [to] the entire EIFF team for their belief, support, enthusiasm and giving us this special and prestigious launch pad to introduce Bad Day at the Office into the world and their tireless efforts in championing independent filmmaking voices.”
This year’s EIFF will open with the International Premiere of The Incomer, Edinburgh director Louis Paxton’s debut feature starring Domhnall Gleeson (About Time, Star Wars). Full programme details will launch on 1 July, and I’m excited to see what other treats the team have in store for us this year. Toffee popcorn, anyone?
EIFF 2026 is supported by Screen Scotland and the BFI National Lottery Audience Projects Fund.
