London Film Festival 2025 – Christy ★★★

Released: 28 November 2025

Director: David Michod

Starring: Sydney Sweeney, Ben Foster, Merritt Weaver, Katy O’Brian

Following her breakout role in Euphoria, Sydney Sweeney has steadily become one of Hollywood’s most recognisable faces. Her career so far spanning a range of genres, including superhero spectacle, horror and rom-com, each with varying results. Christy, helmed by David Michôd, sees Sweeney add a physical transformation to her repertoire as she portrays female boxing legend Christy Martin.

Known as “The Coalminer’s Daughter”, Christy rose to fame in the mid-90s and 2000s. The film charts her trajectory across a series of time periods, from small-town success to a meteoric ascent that saw her become the first woman to fight on pay-per-view and the first female boxer to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated. However, her story is also coloured by battles outside the ring. 

From the outset, Christy is forced to suppress her sexuality by her family and her trainer, Jim Martin. Early girlfriends are squeezed out of the picture, and Jim’s hold is tightened as he wears her down into a marriage that becomes controlling and violent. Ben Foster as Jim, and Merritt Weaver as Christy’s mother, Joyce, are standout castings, continuing to show themselves among the best character actors working today. Foster embodies a dead-eyed menace, while Weaver impresses with an unsettling turn as a mother whose soft voice masks the cruelty of her denial. Katy O’Brian is also a welcome addition as one of Christy’s boxing rivals, but is afforded less screen time than she deserves. 

Sweeney gives a strong performance as the fighter powered by personal turmoil. Similar to her pared-down turn as an NSA whistleblower in 2023’s Reality, Sweeney subverts her media image to deliver range and a real dedication to the role. Yet, despite all the acting skill on display, the ambition in filmmaking isn’t quite there. Christy remains a by-the-numbers biopic, which isn’t itself a sin, but is very much a missed opportunity given its subject. As a queer athlete, abuse survivor, and a self-made star, Christy’s life offers rich material for a sharper dissection of identity, but Michôd’s feature aims to be inspirational and little else.

As Christy’s career advances, the usual pre-fight bravado turns into cruel jabs about her opponents’ sexuality, indicative of her own self-denial. Yet this contradiction remains underexplored. Instead, the film leans on familiar training montages and an uneven pace that makes the second half drag, while a melodramatic score occasionally tips proceedings into made-for-TV territory. Those seeking a sharper account of events may look to Netflix’s Untold: Deal with the Devil, a documentary giving the details the film only hints at.

To its credit, Christy still lands some genuinely poignant blows. As Christy spirals into drug abuse and faces increasing brutality from Jim, it’s hard not to feel rage and dismay as her mother turns away and others close to her look on in silence. Despite its limitations, Christy is an admirable swing and a worthwhile career entry for Sweeney. While you do feel its impact, it doesn’t quite deliver the knockout it should be capable of.