THE SMASHING MACHINE

Benny Safdie's The Smashing Machine (2025) is a brutal yet tender portrait of an athlete's life on the edge, a film that shows the pain, triumph, and humanity behind a legend in a truthful and beautiful manner.

- PRAVEEN NAGDA

The film is based on the real-life story of mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Mark Kerr. It stars Dwayne Johnson in one of the most transformative performances of his career, and Emily Blunt as Dawn Staples, the woman who stands beside him through every bruise and breakdown.

Dwayne and Blunt bring to life a deeply emotional and bravely honest story of love, addiction, and the cost of greatness. The film opens in the late 1990s, capturing Kerr's rapid rise through the world of MMA.

Safdie's direction is excellent, especially with his handheld camera weaving between sweat-soaked bodies and roaring crowds. Each fight feels real with the way Johnson inhabits Kerr's physicality, making every punch carry the weight of a man who cannot separate his identity from his body.

Safdie is less interested in victory than in the quiet aftermath with the empty locker rooms, the painkillers, the long silences at home in this slow-burn, sluggish but highly engaging film.