Michael Bay is in Miami, which seems right. He also doesn’t exactly love strictly scheduled interviews, and instead just calls when he’s ready to chat, which also seems right. Today, the director of tentpole blockbusters like The Rock and the Transformers franchise is calling to talk about his new parkour documentary, We Are Storror, which is debuting at the 2025 South by Southwest Film Festival this weekend.

Interviewing Bay feels like watching one of his summer tentpole hits. He’s energetic, upbeat and full of boyish humor (and plenty of f-bombs). He’s now 60, but thankfully still sounds like how you expect Michael Bay to sound — like a guy who is still ready to blow some shit up (“Oh, you live in Austin?” he asks, “I burned down a house there once!”).

Interestingly, this idea — can we maintain our playfulness as we age? — is a major theme in We Are Storror.