In “Snitch,” a thriller set in the dangerous drug world, Dwayne Johnson plays a father who goes to work as a drug informant to free his jailed son.

The PG-13 film from Participant Media features a street fight, a car chase and a gun battle — high-octane action aimed at attracting the coveted young adult male audience.

It’s not the kind of movie ordinarily associated with Participant, which has built its reputation on films with social messages, including the global warming documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” and “The Help,” about racism in the 1960s South.

But “Snitch” is already a moderate success. It’s an inexpensive movie that has made more in three weeks than some of the Beverly Hills company’s high-minded films have made over their entire runs. And Participant plans to produce more movies like it.

It’s a bold move, away from the well-meaning adult movies that have put the 9-year-old movie company on the map. But there’s also great potential reward in burying the message inside an action package.

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