TIFF50: Christy (2025) — Film Review

Before I begin to write anything on David Michôd’s newest film Christy, I have to admit that, before this film, I had no idea who Christy Martin was.

My initial appeal to catch the world premiere of Christy at TIFF was the fact that Michôd was directing his newest feature. A director who's career had interested me since Animal Kingdom, I came into the world premiere of the auteur’s newest featuring with much doubt and skepticism, due mainly to the fact that the director would choose projects that would really highlight his strong visual and narrative storytelling, and boxing biopics, usually, are a dime a dozen in the festival world, including the boxing feature I saw to open TIFF 2024, The Cut.

I am happy to report that, Christy is unlike ANY boxing movie I have seen before, and I can confidently say that, it is not for Michôd’s directing, but because the real Christy Martin’s life story is larger than life and unlike anything you could ever imagine. I may not have known who Christy Martin was before this newest feature film, and I am happy to say, I will never forget who Christy Martin is from this day on.

Christy is not your run-of-the-mill boxing biopic, and the less you know about the personal life of Christy Martin, the better.

Yet, while Michôd has never been a high profile director, Christy nonetheless is a high profile project for the Aussie director, and that’s no surprise, due mainly to the choice of casting of Sydney Sweeney as Martin. Sweeney, who is known around Hollywood as the recent it-girl sex symbol, gained thirty pounds of muscle to play Martin, including four months of rigorous training, as well as a physical transformation that make her almost unrecognizable as Martin.

And while Sweeney has risen to fame for her portrayal of Cassie in Euphoria, as well as her sweet and sexy rom-come Anyone But You with Glen Powell, she has spent the better part of two years trying to raise her acting filmography credentials with roles in Americana, Immaculate, Eden and Echo Valley. Luckily for Sweeney, Christy not only shows the world the actress' amazing acting chops, but also makes her, at the very least, in the beginning conversation for this year’s acting Oscars, and that alone is such an accomplishment for an up-and-coming Hollywood starlet.

Michôd is no stranger to midwestern culture, highlighting the brutal and sometimes raw middle class of his native Australia in films like Animal Kingdom and The Rover. In Christy, Michôd drenches his newest feature with sand, sweat and blood and showcases the life of Martin, who’s rise to fame as the "Coal Miner’s Daughter" made her into one of the most prolific female boxers, the world has ever known.

And while Christy is, first and foremost a boxing movie, the film really shines behind the scenes of the ropes when Christy meets her trainer James Martin (Ben Foster). It's the scenes between Foster and Sweeney that make Christy stand above the rest, delivering a harrowing tale of dynamic gender power struggles, archetypes within the boxing/sports world, as well as truly delivering some of the best on-screen character conflict we have seen all year. Christy offers audiences a very realistic and relevant notion on the demise of masculinity within men and husbands. Christy throughout the film yells and reminds James that “he is a man” and his actions do not reflect his position in their relationship, personally and professionally.

I wouldn’t suggest putting Christy Martin’s name into Wikipedia before entering the movie if you haven’t heard of her before, because going into this experience knowing as little as possible, was an unexpected joy for me during this festival.

Martin’s story is one that deserves the spotlight and her struggles, resilience and inevitable success is not just a great boxing biopic film, but a film that packs such a heart wrenching and emotional punch that makes Christy a knockout film!

Night Film Reviews: 7 Out of 10 Moons.

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