THE SMASHING MACHINE
Genre: Sports, Drama
Directed by: Benny Safdie
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt
Release Date: 10/3/2025
Platform: Theatrical
Star Rating: 3.5/5
By Karl Simpson Jr.
“Dwayne Johnson delivers one of the most vulnerable performances of his career.”
THE SMASHING MACHINE isn’t flawless, but it’s the kind of film that leaves a mark. Directed with grit and restraint, it tells the story of Mark Kerr, a mixed martial arts and UFC champion whose life was as brutal outside the cage as it was inside. It doesn’t just rehash the 2002 documentary it’s based on; it reimagines it, giving audiences the immediacy and intimacy of seeing Kerr’s highs and lows play out in real time. Raw, emotional, and deeply human, this film lingers, not because it’s perfect, but because it feels genuine.
The way it leans into performance sets this apart from the documentary. Instead of just hearing about the strain in Kerr’s personal life, we see it unfold: volatile, messy, and painfully honest. The dramatization gives weight to his inner conflict and turbulent relationships. That said, where the documentary clearly laid out context, the film often leaves things more ambiguous. It’s not necessarily a weakness; sometimes that restraint lets viewers draw their own conclusions, but it does highlight the trade-off between emotional punch and narrative grounding.
Visually, the film echoes the raw aesthetic of the original documentary, with a slightly grainy texture that makes it feel grounded in its era. It’s striking on the big screen without ever feeling polished in a way that would undermine the grit of the story. The cinematography balances beauty and brutality, capturing both the chaos of the cage and the vulnerability of the man at its center. The fight sequences, though intense, occasionally pull back when they could have leaned in. Early MMA was unforgiving, and while the film hints at that, it doesn’t always push far enough to show the full, visceral violence of those days.
Dwayne Johnson delivers one of the most vulnerable performances of his career. Stripped of his usual blockbuster charisma, he embodies Kerr with physical dominance and raw fragility. He channels the power that made Kerr unstoppable in the cage and the insecurities that haunted him outside of it. The drugs, pressure, unraveling; all of it plays out with a weight that feels lived in. Johnson doesn’t just capture Kerr’s physicality; he digs into the collapse of a man unsure why he keeps fighting. It’s layered, intense, and easily one of the strongest performances of his career.
Emily Blunt is equally compelling as Kerr’s girlfriend. She doesn’t play her as a one-note antagonist but leans into the contradictions: the charm and affection that drew Kerr in, and the chaos that tore them apart. The push-and-pull between Blunt and Johnson makes for some of the film’s most gripping moments. Their chemistry is electric, swinging from tenderness to volatility in a heartbeat. It’s messy, it’s destructive, and it feels real.
One of the film’s most affecting threads is Kerr’s relationship with fellow fighter Mark Coleman. Coleman is presented as a constant: loyal, supportive, and grounding presence amid Kerr’s chaos. This bond stands in stark contrast to the instability of Kerr’s romance, driving home one of the film’s core truths: in a sport built on violence and ego, the people who stand beside you can be your greatest anchor or your undoing.
THE SMASHING MACHINE may not be perfect, but it’s powerful in ways that count. With a career-best performance from Dwayne Johnson, a volatile turn from Emily Blunt, and a strong focus on the relationships that shaped Mark Kerr’s rise and fall, the film delivers an emotional punch that lingers. It doesn’t just show the toll of fighting on the body; it reveals the cracks in the spirit, the insecurities and dependencies that made Kerr unstoppable and undone. Honest, raw, and human, THE SMASHING MACHINE is memorable not because it’s flawless, but because it’s real.
