While at the outset this seems like a by-the-numbers inspirational sports biopic, as it progresses Christy sets itself apart for myriad reasons.
This dark, affecting drama chronicles the life of former professional boxer Christy Martin, played with exceptional dedication by Sydney Sweeney, who put female boxing on the map in the mid-nineties.
Directed by David Michôd (The King, Animal Kingdom) from a script he co-wrote with Mirrah Foulkes, the film follows Christy's journey from small town obscurity to international prominence.
Christy director: Sydney Sweeney's energy is gold dust
We meet Christy as a young college student in the socially conservative environs of West Virginia in 1989. She has a secret girlfriend (Jess Gabor) and a natural aggression on the basketball court.
When she enters and wins a local female boxing competition, she catches the eye of a Tennessee promoter Larry (Bill Kelly) and starts winning fight after fight.
Things take a turn when Larry recommends she should start training with boxing coach Jim Martin, played to unsettling effect by Ben Foster. Jim begins coaching her before proposing out of the blue. Feeling forced to hide her sexuality, particularly by her glacial mother (Merritt Wever), Christy marries Jim.
Christy star Sydney Sweeney 'felt like a real fighter'
Her boxing career takes off stratospherically but her personal life becomes increasingly disturbing as Jim becomes progressively jealous, controlling and abusive.
While the film feels a little overlong in the middle section, it builds towards a truly terrifying conclusion and by the time the end credits roll you are left with a deep sense of admiration for this sporting great and her battles inside and out of the ring.
Sweeney's transformative, committed performance is a sight to behold, while Foster is a truly chilling presence on the screen. Wever is typically excellent in an equally disturbing role as Christy's censorious mother.
At its heart, Christy is a remarkable story of survival and resilience that never veers into sensationalist territory.
