I saw The Smashing Machine in Venice last week. Not because I'm a fan of MMA biopics—though I've watched enough to know the genre's rhythms—but because I've been waiting for Benny Safdie to do this: step out from his brother Josh's shadow and make a movie that feels like it's breathing on its own.
And it does.
Not perfectly. But it breathes.
It's not just about the fight scenes—though they're real, brutal, and shot with the kind of kinetic urgency you expect from someone who once made Uncut Gems. It's about what happens between the rounds. The silence before the bell. The way Dwayne Johnson—yes, that Dwayne Johnson—stares into the mirror and sees someone he doesn't recognize.
He's playing Mark Kerr, the UFC pioneer whose career peaked in the early 2000s—a man built like a tank but haunted by addiction, pride, and the unbearable weight of being “the machine.” And Johnson? He's unrecognizable. Not just because of the prosthetics—though those are startlingly effective—but because of the absence. The absence of the smile. The absence of the charisma we've come to expect. What's left is a man trying to hold himself together while the world around him crumbles.
And then there's Emily Blunt. As Dawn, Kerr's girlfriend, she's not just a support system. She's the quiet anchor in a storm of testosterone and chaos. Her performance—quiet, sharp, devastating—is the film's emotional core. One moment she's laughing at a joke in the locker room; the next, she's staring at her phone, wondering if she's losing herself in the reflection of someone else's pain.
The poster says it all: Johnson in red, arms crossed, face bruised, eyes down. Blunt behind him—watching, worried, present. They're framed through bars. Not prison bars. Locker room ones. But the metaphor? You get it.
“Dwayne Johnson is a revelation…” reads the Variety quote. “Emily Blunt is sensational,” says IndieWire. Both true. But the truth is deeper than praise. This isn't just a performance. It's a reckoning.
Safdie wrote and directed this alone—no Josh, no shared credit. And that matters. His earlier work with his brother was electric, chaotic, almost hyper-real. This? It's quieter. More deliberate. Less about spectacle, more about soul. There's a stillness in the editing. A patience. Like he's listening to the characters instead of forcing them into a rhythm.
The film premiered at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, where it won the Silver Lion for Best Director. Then it moved to TIFF—official selection, no less. It's playing now in select cities, and it hits U.S. theaters on October 3, 2025, courtesy of A24.
You can watch the second trailer here.
And yes, it's got real fights. Authentic ones. No CGI. No choreography that looks like dance. Just men hitting each other. Sweat. Blood. Pain. Real stuff.
But here's the thing: the film itself? It's not groundbreaking. It's not reinventing the biopic. It's a solid, well-made story about a man battling demons inside and outside the cage. The script, co-written with input from the real Mark Kerr, walks the line between myth and man. Sometimes it leans too hard on the myth. Other times, it finds the man.
Johnson and Blunt carry it. The rest? Generic. Predictable. The supporting cast—Usyk, Bader, Ishii—are competent, but they don't leave much of an impression. Bas Rutten shows up as himself. Stephen Quadros too. But they're background noise.
Still. That's not the point.
The point is this: Dwayne Johnson has never been this vulnerable on screen. Not like this. Not in Jumanji, not in San Andreas, not even in Black Adam. Here, he's not saving the world. He's barely saving himself.
And somehow, that makes it more powerful.
I walked out of the Venice screening feeling… conflicted. Moved. Disappointed. Then moved again.
Because that's what good cinema does. It doesn't give you answers. It gives you questions.
Maybe that's the point. Or maybe not. I'm not sure anymore.
What You Should Know Before Seeing The Smashing Machine
Dwayne Johnson's Performance Is Unsettling in the Best Way
He's not playing a superhero. He's playing a broken man. The prosthetics help, but it's the eyes—the way he avoids looking at people—that sell it.
Benny Safdie Steps Out on His Own
This is his first solo directorial effort. No Josh. No shared credit. And it shows in the pacing, the tone, the restraint.
It's Based on a Real Legend
Mark Kerr was one of the most dominant fighters in early MMA history. The film captures both his glory and his fall.
Emily Blunt Steals the Show
She's not just a love interest. She's the emotional compass. Her quiet strength cuts deeper than any punch.
Festival Success, But Not a Breakout Hit
Won Best Director at Venice. Playing at TIFF. But it's not likely to be a box office monster. It's art, not event.
A24 Releases It in October
October 3, 2025. Limited release first. Then wider. If you care about character-driven drama with real stakes, it's worth seeing.
