PalCinema Review: Christy

Sydney Sweeney plays a boxer fighting her foes both in and out of the ring.

November 7, 2025

FILM: CHRISTY

DIRECTED BY: DAVID MICHOD

STARRING: SYDNEY SWEENEY, BEN FOSTER, MERRITT WEVER

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

By Dan Pal

Are you ready for another boxing movie? Let’s face it, since the era of Rocky there’s rarely a year that goes by without one. The trick for these films is to show us something we haven’t already seen in or out of the ring before. Christy is a mixed bag. It’s based on the true story of Christy Salters Martin who became the first woman to fight on pay-per-view TV and was the first female boxer to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated in the 1990s. I was unfamiliar with her narrative which ultimately packs quite a wallop, thanks in part to the brilliant work done by actress Sydney Sweeney who goes through a major transformation to play her. She’s the real reason to see the film. Much of it is filled with a lot of typical boxing movie clichés including the rise to success, fighting montages, and a major setback in her personal life that threatens to do more than derail her career.

We first meet Christy in 1989 in West Virginia. Her family is pretty conservative, led by her mother Joyce played by three-time Emmy winner, Merritt Wever. Before being tapped to train for the ring, Christy is a high school basketball player who has a girlfriend named Rosie. Joyce objects to this relationship and threatens to get her “cured.” But Christy’s fate changes when she meets Jim Martin who wants to make her a great boxer. Within a few years she achieves that goal and becomes Jim’s wife. Soon, he is controlling just about every aspect of her life. He wants her to lose weight, grow her hair, and be prettier. The control he has on her is ironic since she’s doing all the work and earning all the money. Both characters have expectations over what a man and woman should be. At one point, Jim says he wants her to be a “regular wife.” While Christy’s career has its ups and downs, the difficulties between her and Jim escalate.

Ben Foster as Jim is playing another creepy role we’ve seen him play many times before. He’s calm for a while but we expect him to explode at any moment. Foster, and the script for that matter, doesn’t offer much for us to warm up to with him. His physical transformation doesn’t change much during the twenty-one years he is with Christy. He’s pretty unlikeable as a character throughout the entire film.

It is Sydney Sweeney who is the revelation here. When we first meet Christy, Sweeney has already gone through a major transformation herself. She’s wearing a short, mullet-style, dark wig and appears heavier and physically awkward. As the film goes on, Sweeney has to balance between Christy’s sparkly personality with big, animated movements and the fierce fighter the character eventually becomes. Because Christy experiences some personal sadness and periodic exhaustion, Sweeney has to further layer this complex character. Her skillful interpretation of Christy pays off and we are convinced of every note Sweeney delivers. This is the kind of performance that should be Oscar-nominated. The big question is whether people will want to check the film out in the first place.

It’s a pretty rough experience watching the various transitions in Christy’s life. It can also be frustrating when we know that everything she has done, safe for the fighting in the ring, has been controlled by Jim. It’s clear that there is a whole other side to Christy that can’t be expressed. The increasing frustrations she has result from not being able to get out from under his dominance. There’s a more authentic person buried down within her which might be contributing to the power she can let out while in the ring but it doesn’t exactly connect to a happy personal life.

Exploring themes of domestic violence and perseverance, Christy is a tough watch but Sydney Sweeney is the reason to check it out.

Christy opens in theaters today.

What do you think? Will you seek this one out?

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