Overview

• The A24 biopic, Benny Safdie’s first solo feature, adapts the 2002 Mark Kerr documentary and opens in U.S. theaters on October 3.
• Johnson says he sustained a real concussion during a fight scene to preserve authenticity, describing the punches as real in a Tonight Show interview reported by Newsweek.
• The film’s festival run included a lengthy standing ovation at Venice and a Silver Lion for Safdie, followed by high-profile premieres in Los Angeles and London.
• Critics from Rolling Stone, the Boston Globe, Newsday, and UPI praise Johnson’s restrained, vulnerable turn while questioning the film’s structure, pacing, or certain performances.
• Authenticity is foregrounded through Kazu Hiro’s prosthetics and casting of real MMA figures, including Ryan Bader as Mark Coleman and Bas Rutten.