--- title: "Christy" year: 2025 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/christy" fi1m_id: "christy" imdb_id: "tt32323252" tmdb_id: 1287322 wikidata_id: "Q130403642" fi1m_score: 58 critics_score: 54 critics_reviews: 21 published: "2026-09-24T19:35:19.936342+00:00" updated: "2026-09-24T19:35:21.066300+00:00" region: "RS" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Christy (2025) Directed by David Michôd · 2h 14m · History, Drama ## Identity Christy - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/christy - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** christy - **IMDb ID:** tt32323252 - **TMDB ID:** 1287322 - **Wikidata ID:** Q130403642 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32323252/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1287322, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q130403642 **Fi1m score: 58** · Critics 54 from 21 reviews *In a sentence:* Pink trunks, a perm, and a husband who never raises his voice; the fights are the least frightening thing in it > Sydney Sweeney throws herself at Christy Martin’s story and Ben Foster makes a small, quiet monster of the man in her corner. Around them David Michôd has built a biopic that hits its marks in order and rarely surprises; for the interested, with reservations. ## Synopsis West Virginia, the late 1980s. Christy (Sydney Sweeney) lives at home with her mother, Joyce (Merritt Wever), and her father, John (Ethan Embry). For cash she enters a Toughwoman contest and flattens women twice her size. Jim Martin (Ben Foster), a trainer decades older than she is, watches from the seats and offers to make her a professional. She takes the offer, and in time his name, and the pink trunks he puts her in become her calling card. What she wants is to be somebody; in the way stand a small town, a mother who does not approve, and the man running her corner. ## Review David Michôd’s *Christy* is a 134-minute account of the boxer Christy Martin, from a Toughwoman contest in West Virginia to the top of a sport that barely existed for women when she started. Mirrah Foulkes and Michôd’s script, from a story by Katherine Fugate, is really two films. One is a rise, with the montages, the belts and the press conferences that implies. The other is a marriage, with closed doors and long silences. The second is the one Michôd cares about, and it works. The first is there because the genre expects it. Sweeney has put on weight and muscle and the film wants you to notice. More usefully, she has found a way of carrying her body that changes across the years: loose and grinning in the early bouts, bunched and watchful at home, a woman who has learned to make herself small in a kitchen. She is not subtle and the part does not ask her to be; Christy talks big, wears pink and takes a punch to land two. When the script leaves her alone, in hotel rooms and at a family table where nobody will meet her eye, she is better than the writing around her. Whether she has found the whole woman is another question, and we are not sure the film gave her the chance. Ben Foster is the reason to see it. His Jim Martin is a soft-spoken, slack-shouldered man who defers to his wife in public and keeps a ledger in his head. Foster never shouts. He asks questions: where were you, who was that, why was the phone off. We were frightened of him within twenty minutes, and the reason is that Michôd stages the marriage from Christy’s side, so that we learn, as she has, to read his mood from how he puts down a glass. It is the best work in the film, and it does something the boxing never manages, which is to make us unsure what happens next. Merritt Wever, as Christy’s mother Joyce, plays a woman who can forgive her daughter a husband like Jim far more easily than a girlfriend, and she does it without a raised eyebrow. Two of her scenes at a kitchen table are colder than anything in the ring. Katy O’Brian, as the fighter Lisa Holewyne, arrives late and is given far less than she can carry, which is a waste the film cannot afford. Chad Coleman’s Don King gets the hair and the patter and a handful of scenes. The fights are where the film is most ordinary. Germain McMicking shoots them from a broadcast distance, bright and even under the arena lights, and Matt Villa cuts them to the familiar grammar: a flurry, a corner, a stumble, a bell. There is little sense of a crowd, or of the fear a boxer must feel walking out. The middle hour is built almost entirely from montage, a run of dates and cities that tells us Christy became famous without letting us feel one fight from inside it. We were bored somewhere around the fourth montage, and then we were irritated, because the kitchen scenes had already shown us the film could do better. Antony Partos’s score stays quiet at home and leans harder for the ring, which is the right instinct and does not rescue the cutting. Chad Keith’s production design is careful about the era, the wood panelling, the motel bedspreads, the houses that get bigger as the marriage gets smaller, and the film is most alive when it simply sits in those rooms and lets Foster and Sweeney be quiet in them. Those stretches are where the 15 certificate earns its keep. Michôd’s [*Animal Kingdom*](https://film.one/film/animal-kingdom), from 2010, was about a family that ate its own and never announced it. That patience is here, but only in the marriage. Everywhere else the film reaches for the weigh-in, the press conference and the crowd on its feet, and none of it fits a story whose real fight was never in public. The reviews so far split almost exactly down the middle, and we can see both halves. Go for Foster and Sweeney and for the marriage, which is a serious piece of work about how a woman is taught not to leave. Do not go for a boxing film; the boxing is the part everyone involved seemed least interested in, and at 134 minutes it is a long wait between the scenes that matter. The last stretch is hard to watch, for reasons we will leave the film to explain. *Fi1m score 58, published 24 September 2026.* ## What the critics say The reviews split almost evenly, and the one thing nearly all agree on is Sydney Sweeney. Critics praise her physical transformation and her committed, unglamorous playing of Christy Martin, and several say the boxing scenes are where the film is at its best. Merritt Wever, as Christy’s judgmental mother, and Ben Foster, as her controlling husband, draw steady praise too. The argument is over the film around her. The positive notices call it moving and rousing, a sports story that swerves the usual formula. The sceptics find it bland, formulaic and overlong, with a montage-led approach that keeps Christy’s inner life at arm’s length and a dour tone that never lifts. Two British outliers go further: Sight and Sound and The i Paper argue that Sweeney herself falls short, either dulled by the script or unable to catch Martin’s complexity. Few others agree with them. ## Straight answers **Is Christy worth watching?** *Christy* is worth watching for Ben Foster's quiet, frightening Jim Martin and for the marriage at its centre, and we scored it 58. Sydney Sweeney is committed and often better than her writing, but the boxing is shot and cut without much interest, and at 134 minutes the montages leave a long wait between the scenes that matter. **How long is Christy, and what is it rated?** *Christy* runs 2h 14m. It is a history and drama film. **Where can I watch Christy in Serbia?** *Christy* is not on any streaming or rental service in Serbia at the moment. It is available in 21 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How violent or frightening is Christy, and is it suitable for children?** *Christy* is a 15 in the UK and an R in the US, and it is not for children. The fights are bright, ordinary and the least troubling part; what earns the certificate is a marriage seen from the wife's side, in which a soft-spoken husband becomes a menace, and a last stretch we found hard to watch. **How does Christy compare to Nil by Mouth?** *Christy* and [*Nil by Mouth*](https://film.one/film/nil-by-mouth) are both films about a marriage that frightens from inside the house, but *Nil by Mouth* is the stronger and the more consistent. Gary Oldman's film stays in its rooms and is gruelling throughout; *Christy* is at its best in its kitchen scenes and then keeps leaving them for weigh-ins and press conferences that fit the genre rather than the story. **What should I watch after Christy?** After *Christy*, try [*Nil by Mouth*](https://film.one/film/nil-by-mouth) (1997, Fi1m 87): Gary Oldman’s south London marriage; the film Christy’s kitchen scenes are reaching for. Then [*Animal Kingdom*](https://film.one/film/animal-kingdom) (2010, Fi1m 84): Michôd’s first feature, a Melbourne crime family run on quiet and dread. ### Reviews we read (21) - **Variety**, Owen Gleiberman (85/100, inferred): Gleiberman finds the biopic powerfully compelling, moving, and rousing despite its deeply downbeat portrait of abuse. He especially praises Sydney Sweeney’s transformative performance and the film’s honest portrayal of Christy Martin’s life. [Read](https://variety.com/2025/film/reviews/christy-review-sydney-sweeney-1236509755/) - **IndieWire**, Kate Erbland (B+): The critic finds the biopic grim but ultimately crowd-pleasing, with a moving portrait of perseverance that resists the usual sports-movie formula. She especially praises Sydney Sweeney’s committed, nuanced performance and the strong supporting cast. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/christy-review-sydney-sweeney-biopic-1235149362/) - **Radio Times**, James Mottram (4/5): Mottram calls the film a sports movie with a sting and praises Sydney Sweeney’s powerhouse performance. He also singles out the dark turn in Christy’s relationship with her controlling husband. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-vqkvu7/christy/) - **Time Out**, Dan Jolin (4/5): The review is positive, calling Sydney Sweeney a knockout in the true-life drama. It singles out her performance as the film’s standout. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/christy-review-2025) - **Vulture**, Alison Willmore (75/100, inferred): Willmore finds Christy more compelling than a conventional Oscar-minded sports biopic, though it does not fully explore its broader implications. She singles out Sweeney’s wholehearted portrayal of Christy’s ugliness and defeat as the film’s strongest element. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/christy-review-sydney-sweeney-could-get-an-oscar-for-this.html) - **Screen Daily**, Robert Daniels (70/100, inferred): Daniels presents the film as a broad biopic while calling Sydney Sweeney a knockout. The standfirst identifies its focus as Christy Martin’s tumultuous life and her abusive trainer-husband. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/christy-review-sydney-sweeney-is-a-knockout-in-david-michods-broad-boxing-biopic/5208636.article) - **Evening Standard**, Hannah Pettit (3/5): Pettit finds the biopic safe and bland, saying it misses the poignancy and nuance of Christy Martin’s story. She praises Sydney Sweeney’s convincing physical transformation and says the film is at its best during the boxing scenes. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/christy-film-review-sydney-sweeney-b1253831.html) - **Little White Lies**, Mark Asch (3/3/3): Asch finds the biopic solid but not especially distinctive, with Michôd’s stylistic touches insufficient to elevate it. He praises Sweeney’s energy and swagger in the boxing scenes, while noting that the fights lack atmosphere. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/christy) - **Slant Magazine**, Marshall Shaffer (2/4): Shaffer finds the film boilerplate and ideologically indecisive, though its domestic-violence drama is more effective than its boxing story. He praises Sydney Sweeney’s gritty, convincing performance and David Michôd’s chilling portrayal of cruelty. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/christy-review-sydney-sweeney/) - **Empire**, Christina Newland (40/100, inferred): Newland finds the film well-meaning but meandering, with a dour approach that leaves it rudderless. She praises Sydney Sweeney’s dedicated central performance but faults the material and the underuse of Katy O’Brian. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/christy/) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, David Rooney (35/100, inferred): Rooney finds the film watchable but formulaic and ultimately unaffecting. He praises Merritt Wever’s performance as Christy’s judgmental mother, while criticizing the lead character’s limited depth. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/christy-review-sydney-sweeney-david-michod-ben-foster-1236363060/) - **Los Angeles Times**, Robert Abele (30/100, inferred): Abele finds the film an efficient but slick, under-nuanced melodrama that fails to do justice to Christy Martin’s complex journey. He praises Sydney Sweeney’s physically transformed, emotionally present performance, while criticizing the film’s heavy-handed montage-driven direction. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2025-11-07/christy-review-sydney-sweeney-ben-foster-david-michod-boxing) - **Sight and Sound**, BFI (25/100, inferred): The critic finds the biopic disappointing and a disservice to Christy Martin. They fault Sydney Sweeney’s performance for failing to capture Martin’s complexity and the film for flattening her story. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/christy-lacklustre-boxing-drama-does-disservice-its-subject) - **The Guardian**, Benjamin Lee (20/100, inferred): Lee finds the biopic cliched and dramatically thin, with Sweeney unable to make Christy Martin feel fully realized outside the ring. He praises Sweeney’s convincing boxing presence but faults the film’s shallow characterization and lingering violence. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/sep/05/christy-review-sydney-sweeney) - **The i Paper**, Francesca Steele (15/100, inferred): Steele finds the biopic bland and clichéd, with Sydney Sweeney’s performance dulled by the script. She praises Ben Foster’s quietly menacing portrayal of Jim and Merritt Wever’s performance as Christy’s mother. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/sydney-sweeney-oscar-christy-travesty-4063191) - **Eye for Film**, Jennie Kermode (75/100, inferred): Kermode finds the film compelling and true to its characters despite familiar themes and occasional heavy-handedness. She especially praises Sydney Sweeney’s performance and Merritt Wever’s chilling portrayal of Christy’s mother. [Read](http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/christy-2025-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) - **The Playlist**, The Playlist (B-): The review is positive overall, though it says some creative choices do not land. It praises Sydney Sweeney’s committed, varied performance, while criticizing the lurid presentation of some abuse scenes. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/christy-review-sydney-sweeney-smashes-through-expectations-in-david-michods-boxing-drama-20250907/) - **Collider**, Ross Bonaime (6/10): The review finds the film a formulaic sports biopic, despite its moving true story. It praises Sydney Sweeney’s commanding performance, especially her portrayal of Christy Martin’s pain and loneliness. [Read](https://collider.com/christy-review-sydney-sweeney/) - **Paste**, Jim Vorel (5.5/10): Vorel finds the film dour, overlong, and unconvincing as an inspirational sports biopic. He praises Katy O’Brian’s physicality and intensity, while criticizing the screenplay for keeping Christy’s inner life at a distance. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/christy/christy-review-sydney-sweeney-boxing-movie-problems-script-christy-martin-david-michod) - **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (40/100, inferred): Hammond finds the biopic overlong and familiar, though Christy Martin’s story remains compelling enough to merit an audience. He praises Sydney Sweeney’s committed performance, which he says demonstrates her acting ability. [Read](https://deadline.com/2025/09/christy-review-sydney-sweeney-biopic-ben-foster-toronto-1236509698/) - **The Wrap** (35/100, inferred): The critic finds the film stiffly conventional and ultimately a letdown, despite its moving subject. Sydney Sweeney’s nuanced, forceful performance is singled out as its standout strength. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/christy-review-sydney-sweeney/) ## Details - **Director:** David Michôd - **Director:** David Michôd - **Screenplay:** David Michôd, Mirrah Foulkes - **Story:** Katherine Fugate - **Cinematography:** Germain McMicking - **Editor:** Matt Villa - **Music:** Antony Partos - **Production design:** Chad Keith - **Producer:** David Michôd, Kerry Kohansky-Roberts, Sydney Sweeney - **Cast:** Sydney Sweeney as Christy Martin; Ben Foster as Jim V. Martin; Merritt Wever as Joyce Salters; Katy O'Brian as Lisa Holewyne; Ethan Embry as John Salters; Jess Gabor as Rosie; Chad Coleman as Don King; Tony Cavalero as James “Shortdog” Maloney - **Runtime:** 2h 14m - **First release (Canada):** 5 September 2025 - **Genres:** History, Drama - **Budget:** $15 million - **Box office:** $2 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSHwFDPfeV8 ## Where to watch in Serbia Not streaming, renting or buying in Serbia at the last check. Also available in: AR, AU, BR, CA, CL, CO, EC, ES, FI, FR, GB, IE, IN, IT, MX, NZ, PA, PE, PL, SE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Girlfight* (2000): Michelle Rodriguez in a Brooklyn gym; the boxing picture Christy keeps almost being. - *Fat City* (1972): John Huston on small-time fighters in Stockton; the ring as a place to lose slowly. - *I, Tonya* (2017): Another abused athlete, told with a sharper tongue and a nastier sense of humour. - *Nil by Mouth* (1997), Fi1m 87: Gary Oldman’s south London marriage; the film Christy’s kitchen scenes are reaching for. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/nil-by-mouth.md) - *Animal Kingdom* (2010), Fi1m 84: Michôd’s first feature, a Melbourne crime family run on quiet and dread. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/animal-kingdom.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/christy