---
title: "The Smashing Machine"
year: 2025
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-smashing-machine"
fi1m_id: "the-smashing-machine"
imdb_id: "tt11214558"
tmdb_id: 760329
wikidata_id: "Q126012569"
fi1m_score: 70
critics_score: 73
critics_reviews: 18
published: "2026-09-09"
updated: "2026-10-06T10:36:23.535890+00:00"
region: "US"
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."
---

# The Smashing Machine (2025)

Directed by Benny Safdie · 2h 03m · MPA R · Drama, History, Action, Sport

## Identity

The Smashing Machine

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/the-smashing-machine
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** the-smashing-machine
- **IMDb ID:** tt11214558
- **TMDB ID:** 760329
- **Wikidata ID:** Q126012569
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11214558/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/760329, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q126012569

**Fi1m score: 70** · Critics 73 from 18 reviews

*In a sentence:* A fight film in which the fights are the calmest hours of the man’s life

> Benny Safdie’s portrait of the fighter Mark Kerr is quiet, careful and better acted than we had any right to expect, with Dwayne Johnson unrecognisable and good. It is also slower than it needs to be, and more ordinary than its manner lets on.

## Synopsis

Mark Kerr (Dwayne Johnson) is a heavyweight in the early years of mixed martial arts, a college wrestler turned professional fighter who has not yet lost. The film follows him from a bout in Japan through a run of fights abroad, a friendship with fellow fighter Mark Coleman (Ryan Bader), and a life at home with his girlfriend Dawn Staples (Emily Blunt) that is louder than anything in the ring. The painkillers he takes for his body start to become something else. Bas Rutten appears as himself, and the boxer Oleksandr Usyk plays the opponent Igor Vovchanchyn. Written, directed and edited by Benny Safdie, in his first film without his brother.

## Review

Benny Safdie, directing alone for the first time, has made a film about a fighter that hardly cares who wins. Mark Kerr (Dwayne Johnson) is a heavyweight in the first years of mixed martial arts, a wrestler who has never lost, and the film follows him through fights in Japan, a painkiller habit he does not think of as a habit, and a relationship with Dawn Staples (Emily Blunt) that is louder than anything in the ring. It is a good film with a fine performance, and it is slower than it needs to be. Worth your evening if you can take a sports film that keeps walking away from the sport.

Johnson is the reason to go. Under prosthetics, with his voice pitched soft and high, he plays Kerr as a large, polite boy who is puzzled that anyone should mind being hit by him. He thanks referees. He tells an interviewer he does not want to hurt anybody and only wants to win, and he seems to think those are the same sentence. Johnson has coasted through a decade of films in which he plays himself; here he stands still, listens, and we kept forgetting who we were looking at.

Blunt is the film’s noise. Dawn has decided to be furious before she knows what about, and the rows in the couple’s kitchen have a pitch the fights never reach. It is a big performance in a small film and it does not always fit; twice Safdie lets her go on past the point where we believed her. Ryan Bader, a fighter rather than an actor, plays Coleman with an ease trained actors would envy, and the two men talking nonsense in hotel corridors give the film its warmest minutes. Usyk, as Vovchanchyn, gets the same courtesy the film gives Kerr.

Maceo Bishop shoots the bouts from where a cameraman at the event would stand: outside the ropes, handheld, a half-second late, so that we hear the crowd before we see the knee land. There is no slow motion and nothing under the punches but the punches. James Chinlund’s arenas are lit flat and white like a trade fair and the hotel rooms are hotel-room beige. Heidi Bivens puts the men in tracksuits and singlets that look slept in. Safdie cuts his film so that scenes begin late and end early, and yet nothing hurries; the film drifts.

The oddest choice is the music. Nala Sinephro’s score is soft and warm and close to drowsy, laid over training and grief alike, and one training sequence is set to an Elvis ballad. This is the film saying what it thinks of Kerr: that he is a gentle man in a violent trade and the violence is the least of him. We liked it, and we can see why some have found it sends them to sleep.

Here is what got us. Early on, Kerr describes to a camera what it feels like to have another man give up beneath him, and his face is the face of a child describing a birthday. We were unsettled, then sad, because the film has already shown us his bathroom drawer, and we knew what that pleasure would cost. Johnson does it without raising his voice. It is the best scene he has ever played.

The trouble is the middle. Once the film has established that Kerr is quiet and Dawn is not and the pills are a problem, there are forty minutes in which it says so again. The domestic scenes take the same shape: he goes still, she escalates, somebody leaves a room. The film refuses the usual biopic furniture, the big speech, the montage with drums, and ends up where a biopic goes anyway. *Uncut Gems* (2019), which Safdie made with his brother, never let us sit still. This one asks us to sit still and does not always give us a reason.

See it for Johnson, whom we did not know could do this, and for the fights, which are the calmest scenes in the man’s life. Do not expect to be gripped; expect to be kept company. It runs 123 minutes and carries a 15.

*Fi1m score 70, published 9 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

The praise clusters on Dwayne Johnson. Nearly every critic singles out his performance as Mark Kerr, describing a star who has set his persona aside for something quieter, sadder and smaller than life, and several call it the best work he has done. Emily Blunt draws warm notices too, with more than one review finding the domestic scenes the strongest in the film. Benny Safdie’s direction gets a more mixed reception. Most admire its gentle, documentary-like approach and its interest in losing rather than winning; the Telegraph also credits the score with giving the story a sweet, spiritual edge.

The reservations are about what surrounds Johnson: a run of critics, from The Ringer to Collider and Den of Geek, find the storytelling conventional and slow, and The New Yorker goes further, calling the film distanced and passionless. Film Stories is the outright dissenter, finding it stiff and without guts. The spread is narrow, with most reviews landing at four stars or its equivalent.

## Straight answers

**Is The Smashing Machine worth watching?**

*The Smashing Machine* is worth watching for anyone who can take a sports film that keeps walking away from the sport, and we scored it 70. Dwayne Johnson, under prosthetics and speaking soft, is the reason to go, and the fights are shot plainly and well. The middle forty minutes repeat themselves, so expect to be kept company rather than gripped.

**How long is The Smashing Machine, and what is it rated?**

*The Smashing Machine* runs 2h 03m and is rated R by the MPA in the US. It is a drama and history film.

**Where can I watch The Smashing Machine in the US?**

*The Smashing Machine* is streaming on HBO Max, Hulu, The Roku Channel and Amazon Prime Video in the US, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from $4.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is The Smashing Machine, and is it suitable for children?**

*The Smashing Machine* carries a UK 15 and a US R, and it is not for children. The fights are filmed without slow motion or softening, so the knees and punches land as they would in a real bout, and the kitchen rows between Kerr and Dawn are louder than anything in the ring. The film also follows a painkiller habit turning into addiction, which is the heavier material.

**How does The Smashing Machine compare to The Wrestler?**

*The Smashing Machine* and [*The Wrestler*](https://film.one/film/the-wrestler) are both about a big man taken apart gently, with a body that will not stop paying, and the earlier film is the tighter of the two. Aronofsky presses harder on a familiar second-chance story; Safdie drifts, refuses the big speech and the montage, and is slower for it. Rourke's tenderness gives *The Wrestler* more reason to endure the punishment, while Johnson's stillness is the quieter surprise.

**What should I watch after The Smashing Machine?**

After *The Smashing Machine*, try [*The Wrestler*](https://film.one/film/the-wrestler) (2008, Fi1m 85): Another big man taken apart gently, with a body that will not stop paying. Then [*Fat City*](https://film.one/film/fat-city) (1972, Fi1m 73): Huston’s boxers lose slowly in daylight; the least glamorous fight film ever made; and [*Foxcatcher*](https://film.one/film/foxcatcher) (2014, Fi1m 82): Wrestlers, money and a quiet man who cannot say what he wants.

### Reviews we read (23)

- **Variety**, Owen Gleiberman (90/100, inferred): Dwayne Johnson gives a revelatory performance as Mark Kerr in Benny Safdie's clear-eyed and humane sports biopic. The film is praised for its intimate, documentary-like approach that avoids conventional biopic tropes while exploring the fighter's inner life. [Read](https://variety.com/2025/film/reviews/the-smashing-machine-review-dwayne-johnson-benny-safdie-1236503546/)
- **Empire**, John Nugent (85/100, inferred): The critic praises Dwayne Johnson's transformative performance as Mark Kerr, calling it the best of his career and a response to recent professional setbacks. Benny Safdie's direction is highlighted for creating a thoughtful, moving, and authentic portrait of loss, complexity, and failure in this unconventional sports biopic, drawing comparisons to Raging Bull and Rocky. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/the-smashing-machine/)
- **The Observer**, Wendy Ide (80/100, inferred): In Benny Safdie’s first solo film, Dwayne Johnson delivers an unexpectedly bruised and naked performance as real-life MMA fighter Mark Kerr, balancing savage competitiveness with childlike earnestness. The story explores his rise and opioid-addled fall, with a terrific turn from Emily Blunt as his demanding girlfriend. [Read](https://observer.co.uk/culture/film/article/wendy-ides-pick-of-other-films-the-smashing-machine-urchin-and-more)
- **The Telegraph**, Robbie Collin (4/5): The Smashing Machine is a crunchily satisfying fight movie that innovates subtly, with Dwayne Johnson shedding his daft image for a warm, sincere and ego-less performance as Mark Kerr. Safdie summons thrilling energy, and the score gives the tough story an unexpectedly sweet and spiritual edge. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/the-smashing-machine-review-dwayne-johnson/)
- **Time Out**, Phil de Semlyen (4/5): An unexpectedly gentle and soulful character study that puts heart before glory in the world of MMA. Johnson undercuts his persona with vulnerability in what amounts to his The Wrestler moment. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-smashing-machine-review-2025)
- **Financial Times**, Danny Leigh (75/100, inferred): Benny Safdie’s curious drama about the fighting life is built around Dwayne Johnson, who is very good as Mark Kerr, conjuring an elusive character with fleeting glances and remarks. It is a big man in miniature, with souls grappled with in a hard-hitting film tied to Johnson’s wrestling roots. [Read](https://www.ft.com/content/011cb8f3-f004-4773-8e06-50ed5888f542)
- **The Times**, Tom Shone (75/100, inferred): Dwayne Johnson shows the soft side of an MMA fighter in a gentle, introspective film that is not really a traditional sports biopic or addiction drama. Johnson’s show of vulnerability is the big draw as the real-life Kerr, whose mixture of hulking physique and mild manners suits the role perfectly. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/the-rock-crumbles-in-a-biopic-with-a-big-heart-rhtkfc2fm)
- **The Guardian** (70/100, inferred): Benny Safdie has written and directed a solid bro drama about the central crisis in the life of Mark Kerr after his first loss. The film focuses on substance abuse, relationship anxieties and the question of what life means without constant winning, with touching moments of vulnerability but without reaching for tragedy or big set pieces. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/sep/01/the-smashing-machine-review-dwayne-johnson-mark-kerr)
- **The New York Times**, Alissa Wilkinson (65/100, inferred): Dwayne Johnson delivers a strong performance as the fighter Mark Kerr, but the film fails to fully engage with its subject's inner life. The critic highlights Johnson's magnetic presence as the main reason to watch while noting issues with the surrounding story and direction. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/movies/smashing-machine-review.html)
- **The New Yorker**, Richard Brody (45/100, inferred): Johnson gives a taut and precise performance that brings emotional depth to the role of Mark Kerr. However, the film as a whole is criticized as distanced, passionless, and overly analytical, failing to capture the extremity of the subject's experiences. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-smashing-machine-pulls-its-punches)
- **Screen Daily**: A consistently idiosyncratic and candid look at a working-class athlete with a complicated relationship and opioid addiction, more focused on learning to lose than winning. Johnson brings real vulnerability to the role in a grittier, more intimate take on the genre. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-smashing-machine-review-dwayne-johnson-and-emily-blunt-clash-in-benny-safdies-ufc-drama/5208412.article)
- **Sight and Sound**: The film offers a respectful, un-sensationalist account of MMA fighter Mark Kerr that functions as a fascinating essay on physique and fame. Johnson delivers a standout performance that draws on his own wrestling background for added depth. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/the-smashing-machine-dwayne-johnson-knockout-benny-safdies-un-sensationalist-mma-fighter-biopic)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Jordan Mintzer: The critic finds the film a gritty, downbeat biopic that highlights Dwayne Johnson's most absorbing performance yet as the tormented fighter Mark Kerr, focusing on human vulnerability over athletic triumph. It singles out the realistic, documentary-style depiction of the early UFC world and the mix of raw humor and kinetic energy for praise, while noting some over-the-top domestic drama. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-smashing-machine-review-dwayne-johnson-delivers-the-blows-as-a-tormented-fighter-in-benny-safdies-gritty-and-downbeat-mma-flick-1236358361/)
- **The Playlist**, Rafa Sales Ross (B+): Safdie’s solo debut subverts expectations with a focus on the person behind the fighter, highlighting Johnson’s transformative performance and the tender, sensitive portrayal amid the brutality; praises the emotional depth and cast. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/the-smashing-machine-review-dwayne-johnson-will-bring-you-to-tears-in-benny-safdies-solo-directorial-debut-venice-20250901/)
- **/Film**, Bill Bria (8/10): A complex, subversive take on the fighter biopic with a multifaceted Johnson performance and electric chemistry with Blunt; tender yet unpredictable, evoking catharsis through quiet moments rather than typical sports tropes. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/1972883/the-smashing-machine-dwayne-johnson-review/)
- **HeyUGuys**, Linda Marric (4/5): A tender character study of vulnerability over violence, with strong performances from Johnson and Blunt; falters slightly in giving Blunt more weight, but gripping and earnest. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/the-smashing-machine-review/)
- **NME**, Matthew Turner (4/5): Praises Johnson's incredible dramatic performance and the emotional depth, calling it a powerful, thoroughly entertaining sports biopic with a sentimental gutpunch. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/the-smashing-machine-review-dwayne-johnson-emily-blunt-3890169)
- **Collider**, Anna Miller (7/10): The critic highlights Dwayne Johnson's layered and vulnerable performance as Mark Kerr, noting his transformation and the film's positive depiction of masculinity. However, they criticize the tame, conventional storytelling, generic biopic beats, and one-dimensional supporting characters. [Read](https://collider.com/the-smashing-machine-review-dwayne-johnson-emily-blunt/)
- **The Ringer**, Adam Nayman (70/100, inferred): The critic commends Dwayne Johnson's successful sublimation of his star persona into a realistic, smaller-than-life portrayal of Mark Kerr and the film's empathetic approach. They single out the overly faithful adherence to the source documentary's realism as a flaw that results in a conventional and somewhat slow biopic lacking lyricism or risk. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2025/10/02/movies/smashing-machine-movie-review-dwayne-johnson)
- **Den of Geek**, David Crow (3/5): The critic finds the domestic scenes with Johnson and Blunt the strongest, praising their performances, but calls the overall film a fairly conventional and dull sports drama that doesn't quicken the pulse. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-smashing-machine-review-dwayne-johnson-emily-blunt/)
- **Film Stories**, Ryan Lambie (40/100, inferred): The critic finds it a well-meaning but conventional sports drama that lacks emotional depth in relationships and brutality in the ring, with Johnson’s performance committed but stiff. Praises the style but criticizes it for having style but no guts. [Read](https://filmstories.co.uk/news/the-smashing-machine-review-a-blunt-johnson-sporting-drama/)
- **Deadline**, Damon Wise: The critic highlights Dwayne Johnson's remarkable, unrecognizable performance as Mark Kerr and the film's abstract, zen-like approach to the biopic, comparing it to a Buddhist Raging Bull, noting its haunting effect and resistance to conventional structure. [Read](https://deadline.com/2025/09/the-smashing-machine-review-dwayne-johnson-emily-blunt-venice-1236503010/)
- **The Wrap**, Steve Pond: The critic finds the film surprisingly gentle and introspective despite its fighting subject, praising Dwayne Johnson's transformative performance as the calm, addicted fighter Mark Kerr and Safdie's counterintuitive directorial choices like using an Elvis ballad for a training montage. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/the-smashing-machine-review-dwayne-johnson-anchors-raw-martial-arts-drama/)

## Details

- **Director:** Benny Safdie
- **Director:** Benny Safdie
- **Screenplay:** Benny Safdie
- **Cinematography:** Maceo Bishop
- **Editor:** Benny Safdie
- **Music:** Nala Sinephro
- **Production design:** James Chinlund
- **Costume design:** Heidi Bivens
- **Producer:** David Koplan, Dany Garcia, Beau Flynn
- **Cast:** Dwayne Johnson as Mark Kerr; Emily Blunt as Dawn Staples; Ryan Bader as Mark Coleman; Bas Rutten as Bas Rutten; Oleksandr Usyk as Igor Vovchanchyn; Lyndsey Gavin as Elizabeth Coleman; Zoe Kosovic as McKenzie Coleman; Satoshi Ishii as Enson Inoue
- **Runtime:** 2h 03m
- **Certificate (MPA):** R
- **Release (the US):** 3 October 2025
- **Genres:** Drama, History, Action, Sport
- **Budget:** $50 million
- **Box office:** $21 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4A8zfMClCM

## Where to watch in the US

- HBO Max: streaming, uhd
- Hulu: add-on, hd
- The Roku Channel: add-on, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: add-on, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: rent $4.99, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $19.99, uhd

*Checked 2026-09-10.*

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BR, CA, CL, CO, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, GB, IE, IN, IT, JP, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PL, SE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *The Wrestler* (2008), Fi1m 85: Another big man taken apart gently, with a body that will not stop paying. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-wrestler.md)
- *Fat City* (1972), Fi1m 73: Huston’s boxers lose slowly in daylight; the least glamorous fight film ever made. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/fat-city.md)
- *Tokyo Fist* (1995): Tsukamoto’s Japanese answer: fighting as sickness, shot as if the camera were bleeding.
- *Foxcatcher* (2014), Fi1m 82: Wrestlers, money and a quiet man who cannot say what he wants. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/foxcatcher.md)
- *The Iron Claw* (2023), Fi1m 71: Brothers in the ring, grief outside it, and Efron unrecognisable in the same way. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-iron-claw.md)

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© 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/the-smashing-machine