David Michôd’s Christy is a bruising biopic anchored by Sydney Sweeney as pioneering boxer, Christy Martin. Sweeney embodies Martin’s grit and vulnerability, tracing her journey from small town toughwoman contests to the national spotlight.
The fight scenes land with visceral thuds, but Michôd keeps the camera equally attentive to Martin’s life outside the ring, where she endured abuse and control at the hands of her trainer husband, Jim, played with chilling precision by Ben Foster. Sweeney transforms physically for the role, but it’s the psychological depth she brings—the defiance, the fear, the hunger for recognition—that elevates the film.
Michôd avoids glamorization, presenting boxing as both escape and trap, and explores how Martin became both symbol and survivor. Though the script occasionally sprawls across decades, its emotional core remains clear: the cost of breaking barriers in a world built to break you. Christy is not just a sports film, it is a story of endurance, resilience, and the bruises we carry long after the fight is done.
Christy premiered at TIFF ’25. For more information, click here.
