A bruised, melancholic sports drama that’s more interested in addiction, intimacy, and self-destruction than in fight-night catharsis. It has strong performances and a distinctive, uneasy tone, but the pacing can feel deliberately flat and emotionally withholding.
The Smashing Machine
Where to watch: Buy
Movie · Drama · History
Wed · 2h 3m
Director: Benny Safdie
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Ryan Bader
Overview
In the late 1990s, up-and-coming mixed martial artist Mark Kerr aspires to become the greatest fighter in the world. However, he must also battle his opioid dependence and a volatile relationship with his girlfriend Dawn.
Director
Benny Safdie
Cast
Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Ryan Bader
Curator Review
Verdict
A bruised, melancholic sports drama that’s more interested in addiction, intimacy, and self-destruction than in fight-night catharsis. It has strong performances and a distinctive, uneasy tone, but the pacing can feel deliberately flat and emotionally withholding.
Best for
Viewers who like character studies over underdog sports movies
Fans of raw, late-90s/early-2000s athletic drama
Audiences interested in addiction and relationship fallout
People who appreciate performance-driven, awards-minded biopics with an abrasive edge
Skip if
You want a rousing MMA or boxing movie with big payoff fights
You prefer tightly plotted, high-energy sports dramas
You’re looking for a warm or inspirational comeback story
You get impatient with bleak, repetitive, or emotionally distant storytelling
Overview
The Smashing Machine treats combat sports less like spectacle and more like a symptom. It’s most compelling when it watches Mark Kerr outside the cage, where the film finds sadness, dependency, and the slow erosion of a relationship that can’t survive the pressure around it. The result is less a victory lap than a study in damage.
Worth noting
Benny Safdie leans into a chilly, observational style that can make the movie feel intentionally anti-climactic. That restraint gives the performances room to breathe, especially in the domestic scenes, but it also creates stretches that may feel underpowered if you came for adrenaline. The film’s emotional intelligence is real, even when the script seems to circle the same pain points.
Bottom line
What lingers is the sense of a man trapped by the very thing that made him exceptional. It’s a serious, often frustrating film, but not an empty one. If you respond to sports dramas that are really about identity, addiction, and the cost of being built for violence, there’s a lot here to admire.
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Themes
addiction, toxic relationships, male vulnerability, combat sports, self-destruction, fame and failure, physical decline, domestic drama
Topics
sports drama, biopic, addiction, MMA, toxic relationship, melancholy, character study, late 1990s, physical toll, awards drama