Christy (2025)
Directed by David Michôd
Christy Martin never imagined life beyond her small-town roots in West Virginia—until she discovered a knack for punching people. Fueled by grit, raw determination, and an unshakable desire to win, she charges into the world of boxing under the guidance of her trainer and manager-turned-husband, Jim. But while Christy flaunts a fiery persona in the ring, her toughest battles unfold outside it—confronting family, identity, and a relationship that just might become life-or-death.
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29 films that influenced Christy
What critics say influenced Christy
Part “Star 80,” part “Raging Bull,” “Christy” is a gritty, if overlong, story of struggle and resilience, of compromise and abuse.
1980’s Raging Bull was a masterwork from Martin Scorsese that delivered not only Robert De Niro’s prolific performance, but also showcased the physical transformation of a boxer at their highest and lowest points.
From Raging Bull to Rocky to Creed, we’ve seen it all.
"Raging Bull," "The Great White Hope," "The Fighter," "The Hurricane," and "Cinderella Man" are just a few of the movies that have inspired us, made us think, and brought humanity to otherwise god-like figures that occupy the ring.
He stages the fights with clarity, but they lack the visceral electricity of Raging Bull or the balletic reinvention of Creed.
Most boxing films aspire to feature some blend of the raw pathos of “Rocky” with the gritty viscerality of “Raging Bull,” and the most successful tend to find another angle to attack the rise-and-fall narrative from.
From Raging Bull to Rocky to Creed, we’ve seen it all.
Most boxing films aspire to feature some blend of the raw pathos of “Rocky” with the gritty viscerality of “Raging Bull,” and the most successful tend to find another angle to attack the rise-and-fall narrative from.
Sydney Sweeney plays Christy, a basketball player turned boxer who moves like a slugger with no technique but endless heart. She’s scrappy and volatile. Does that sound familiar? This has all the makings of a Rocky film. There is even a similar coach/boxer dynamic at the beginning as well.
…a cliche-ridden script consistently has her on the ropes, fighting to hold your interest as the “Rocky” meets “Million Dollar Baby” wannabe…
Many viewers love an underdog story, with other boxing pictures like “Rocky” (1976) showcasing just how attractive this storyline is.
He does gives us the clichés—those training montages—but what we’re watching is less “Rocky” than a film about cruelty, in the hands of a sadist husband (Ben Foster, an expert in sleazeball).
Her first fight has a raw, underground grit reminiscent of The Fighter and Million Dollar Baby, yet Sweeney imbues it with a hungry defiance all her own.
…someone namedrops Hilary Swank, whose exemplary Million Dollar Baby and Boys Don’t Cry are both echoed here to diminishing returns.
In the early 2000s, we even got our first real glimpse into women’s boxing with Million Dollar Baby — a film that earned seven Oscar nominations and won four, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress.
“Cinderella Man” examined boxing through the lens of economic struggle, “Million Dollar Baby” examined the question of morality, “The Hurricane” explored the dynamic between race and justice, and even a more recent example like “Southpaw” channeled the age-old theme of redemption.
Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby (2004) won four Academy Awards…
…a cliche-ridden script consistently has her on the ropes, fighting to hold your interest as the “Rocky” meets “Million Dollar Baby” wannabe…
Director David Michôd drops viewers straight into the ring, with each match evoking a similar grit seen in more recent films like Creed.
He stages the fights with clarity, but they lack the visceral electricity of Raging Bull or the balletic reinvention of Creed.
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Part “Star 80,” part “Raging Bull,” “Christy” is a gritty, if overlong, story of struggle and resilience, of compromise and abuse.
The film is perhaps trying something like Star 80, in which the small-time pimp Paul Snider loses his trophy wife, Dorothy Stratten, to the imperial playboy Hugh Hefner.
…a movie that often parallels "Star 80," another tale of a jealous husband trying to ride his wife's coattails to fame, with a happier ending.
The actor didn’t undergo a transformation like Charlize Theron did for Monster, where she went from a beautiful actress to an intentionally unattractive person…
…in a move not unlike Margot Robbie in I, Tonya, or even Charlize Theron in Monster…
She’s transformed her body, like Robert De Niro in Raging Bull and Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club, and she’s dramatically deglamorized herself, like Charlize Theron in Monster and Jennifer Aniston in Cake.
The predictability doesn’t sink the film, but it keeps it from rising to the level of reinvention achieved by more daring sports dramas such as Foxcatcher or I, Tonya.
The filmmakers were clearly aiming for I, Tonya, which has weirder and crueler energy.
…turning in a performance that recalls Margot Robbie in I, Tonya in terms of portraying false bravado…
…in a move not unlike Margot Robbie in I, Tonya, or even Charlize Theron in Monster…
…there’s nothing Sweeney does here that tops Margot Robbie’s turn as the similarly cocksure sportswoman Tonya Harding in 2017’s I, Tonya.
(As Joyce Salters, Merritt Wever, who is beginning to look like the great Shirley Knight, is much more subtle than Allison Janney’s campy turn in I, Tonya; she has a gently spoken sweetness that makes her love feel all the more coldly withheld.)
It would take nearly 20 years before audiences saw another knockout women’s boxing story: The Fire Inside, a biopic about Claressa Shields.
Rachel Morrison’s The Fire Inside also premiered at Toronto in 2024…
It suffers from many of the same issues plaguing last year’s “The Fire Inside,” unleashing a flurry of punches so fast and furious you never have enough time to absorb them.
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"Raging Bull," "The Great White Hope," "The Fighter," "The Hurricane," and "Cinderella Man" are just a few of the movies that have inspired us, made us think, and brought humanity to otherwise god-like figures that occupy the ring.
“Cinderella Man” examined boxing through the lens of economic struggle, “Million Dollar Baby” examined the question of morality, “The Hurricane” explored the dynamic between race and justice, and even a more recent example like “Southpaw” channeled the age-old theme of redemption.
"Raging Bull," "The Great White Hope," "The Fighter," "The Hurricane," and "Cinderella Man" are just a few of the movies that have inspired us, made us think, and brought humanity to otherwise god-like figures that occupy the ring.
“Cinderella Man” examined boxing through the lens of economic struggle, “Million Dollar Baby” examined the question of morality, “The Hurricane” explored the dynamic between race and justice, and even a more recent example like “Southpaw” channeled the age-old theme of redemption.