Movie · 2025 · Drama, History, Action · 2h 3m · R · English
Curator score: 3.3/10 (427.8K ratings)
The unforgettable true story of a UFC legend.
Overview
In the late 1990s, up-and-coming mixed martial artist Mark Kerr aspires to become the greatest fighter in the world. However, he must also battle his opioid dependence and a volatile relationship with his girlfriend Dawn.
Ratings
Curator score: 3.3/10
IMDb: 6.3/10
Letterboxd: 3.20/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 71%
Metacritic: 65
TMDB: 6.4/10
Director
Benny Safdie
Production
A24, Seven Bucks Productions, Out for the Count, Magnetic Fields Entertainment
Cast
Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Ryan Bader, Bas Rutten, Oleksandr Usyk, Lyndsey Gavin, Zoe Kosovic, Satoshi Ishii, James Moontasri, Yoko Hamamura, Paul Cheng, Andre Tricoteux, Marcus Aurelio, Roberto "Cyborg" Abreu, Jerin Valel, Raja Flores, Egidiyus Klimas, Randi Lynne, Yasuhiro Nakatsuka, Kenny Rice
Where to watch
Max
Curator Review
Verdict
An ambitious, bruised sports drama that treats MMA less like a victory machine than a pressure cooker for addiction, ego, and intimacy. It has strong performances and a clear point of view, but the deliberately cool, repetitive approach may feel underpowered if you want a more propulsive fight movie.
Best for
Viewers who like character-first sports dramas
Fans of addiction and relationship dramas
People interested in the physical and emotional cost of combat sports
Audiences open to a restrained, melancholy tone
Skip if
You want nonstop fight action
You prefer tightly plotted, high-energy sports movies
You’re impatient with emotionally distant or repetitive storytelling
You want a conventional underdog arc
Overview
Benny Safdie’s film is less interested in crowning a champion than in watching a man slowly come apart under the weight of pain, dependence, and expectation. The fight scenes matter, but the real subject is the off-ramp: the domestic strain, the body damage, the self-mythology, and the way violence bleeds into ordinary life.
Worth noting
Dwayne Johnson’s performance is the main event, and the physical transformation gives the role a haunted, almost unrecognizable quality. Emily Blunt adds volatility and sadness, helping the movie land as a relationship drama as much as a sports biopic.
Bottom line
The tradeoff is that the movie can feel intentionally flat, even anticlimactic, in pursuit of emotional realism. If that detachment works for you, it’s a smart, mournful piece of work; if not, it may register as a long, stubborn drift toward the inevitable.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Tyler Jennings (4★) · 6278 likes
The hierarchy of the A24 Universe is about to change…
Sophie Holsinger (2.5★) · 5575 likes
Get yourself a girl who loves colors
timtamtitus (3.5★) · 4987 likes
the rock is evolving. he is now the boulder
Patrick Willems · 4060 likes
The best ear makeup since lord of the rings
DoodleBarb🎀 (3★) · 3779 likes
Erm actually can you change my prescription to a stronger opioid this one is hurting my tummy 🥺👉🏻👈🏻
2025 Ranked Liat
2010 · Drama · 1h 56m · R · Curator 7.6/10 (688.8K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A family-centered boxing drama that balances grit, addiction, and complicated loyalty.
2001 · Drama · 2h 37m · R · Curator 4.6/10 (183.1K ratings) · Where to watch: fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential
A big biographical sports film that connects athletic greatness to personal and political strain.
Topics
sports drama, biographical drama, addiction, marital conflict, masculinity, body horror-adjacent realism, late 1990s, melancholy, combat sports, character study