‘Christy’ (2025) Review – Tonally Uneven & Muddled But Sydney Sweeney’s Knockout Performance Is A Must-See

The story of Christy Martin is nothing short of compelling, so it comes as no surprise that it has received the big screen treatment in Christy. Martin competed from 1989-2012 as a professional boxer and left her mark on the sport, becoming a trailblazer for women as she won numerous titles and broke down walls. She was the first female boxer to appear on Sports Illustrated in 1996, and she was ultimately inducted into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame and the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Nicknamed “the Coal Miner’s Daughter” due to her father’s occupation, Martin’s life story also became noteworthy because of tragedy.

Martin was married to her manager, James V. “Jim” Martin, in 1991 when she was 22 and he was 47, and she endured years of emotional and physical abuse throughout their relationship. Once she gained the strength to declare that she wanted to divorce him, Martin was stabbed multiple times and shot at least once and left for dead by her husband. Martin survived the attack, and since then, she has told her story because it’s a cautionary tale and one of great bravery and survival. Director David Michôd, working from a screenplay he co-wrote alongside Mirrah Foulkes, has to cover all of these bases throughout Christy and is partially successful. The movie, at times, doesn’t know if it wants to focus on being a boxing biopic about a woman who broke down barriers or a cautionary tale of toxic masculinity and domestic abuse. However, despite not fully finding its tonal identity, Sydney Sweeney’s turn as Martin is a revelation and could have her in the Oscar conversation depending on the competition.

Christy spans a lot during its 135-minute runtime. The audience learns about her conservative upbringing, which plays a role as she grapples with hiding her attraction and past relationships with women, and her meteoric rise in the ring that takes her from her traditional household to stardom as a force to be reckoned with against any female boxer who came up against her in the ring. In the midst of this is a sort of marriage of convenience with James Martin (Ben Foster), a man who was her manager, who helped paint the picture of her being a traditional housewife who happened to be a beast once she got in the ring. James can tell that he has one hold over Christy, and that’s her career, and he goes to great lengths to maintain that control, ranging from extreme emotional, physical, and sexual abuse to enabling her addiction to cocaine to seemingly keep her under his spell. Even if you were unfamiliar with Christy’s story, it would be obvious that it’s headed somewhere potentially deadly as James’s control of her begins to slip away.

I was reminded of 1993’s What’s Love Got to Do with It while watching Christy. That film detailed the life of the late singer-songwriter, Tina Turner (portrayed by Angela Bassett), who rose to fame alongside her manager and abusive husband, Ike Turner (Laurence Fishburne). That film managed to balance all of its facets equally. It was a musical biopic about one of our greatest entertainers, but it was also a story about survival at all costs and finding the strength to leave an abusive relationship when the abuser has instilled in you that you’re nothing without them. Where Christy struggles, compared to a film like this, is that it tries and wants to be too much without having the focus to give all aspects of its story the attention it needs. At times, it wants to be a rousing sports biopic, and then it jarringly jumps to being a tale of abuse and trauma while also trying to give credible time to the love story between Christy and her high school girlfriend Rosie (Jess Gabor). Christy’s life was certainly multifaceted, but translating this to film needed a story with more focus instead of swift tonal jumps and uneven pacing.

The first two-thirds of the film feel a bit too by-the-numbers in its depiction of Christy’s story, and it fails to truly capture the intensity of the numerous bouts that she won in the ring. Michôd is a wonder as a director, as seen in 2010’s captivating Animal Kingdom, but the issues have a lot to do with the beats that the screenplay requires him to hit, which seem lifted from movie biopic 101. The movie is competently made, but it’s uninspired in spots, especially when it should be showcasing Christy’s professional triumphs. Christy will not be named in the same breath as Raging Bull, Cinderella Man, Million Dollar Baby, or The Fighter in terms of conveying the intensity of the sport, which is a shame because a simple Dateline episode was able to demonstrate Christy’s power once she entered the ring.

Where the film does generate emotion is its depiction of Christy’s abuse at the hands of her husband, due in large part because the imagery is so disturbingly jarring that it would be impossible to be unaffected by it. Deserving a huge share of the credit for making us believe in Christy’s journey, as a boxer and long-suffering abuse victim, is Sweeney, who gives a revelatory performance in the title role. This is the very definition of owning a role, and she disappears effortlessly into Christy’s shoes, often conveying nuances that are absent in the film’s screenplay. As strange as it is to say, Sweeney has been a victim of her beauty as she has emerged in the industry, and it has been a detriment. Some ignore that she’s a top-notch actress, something she has proven time and time again in episodes of Euphoria and her horrific turn in Immaculate. Christy allows her to give a performance that can’t be ignored because she strips herself of her traditional beauty and becomes Christy Martin. It’s a transformative performance that is worthy of acclaim and Oscar buzz. Even if the film as a whole isn’t.

Matching her in his scary portrayal of James is Foster, who has long been one of our most capable and still considerably underrated actors working today. He’s absolutely ferocious in the role, selling James’s insecurities while also believably portraying a scary sense of malice as he tries to maintain control of a wife who is struggling with wanting to be herself while also remaining loyal to the man who has guided her through a career that has made her a sensation. Supporting turns by Ethan Embry, Katy O’Brian, and Chad L. Coleman don’t offer much, which is a shame, especially in the case of O’Brian. She portrays Lisa Holewyne in the film, one of Christy’s biggest adversaries in the ring, but those who know Christy’s story know she became something much more, and it’s a relationship that isn’t given the resonance it deserves.

It might sound like Christy is a total miss, but it’s not. The lead performances, particularly Sweeney’s, make it worthy of a look, and there are isolated moments that are emotionally palpable. The problem is that a lot of the film is very routine and doesn’t break new ground. Christy Martin’s story is worthy of the big screen treatment, but she deserved one with a bit more focus to get it just right.

Christy is now playing in theaters nationwide courtesy of Black Bear.