In Christy, Christy Martin (Sydney Sweeney) never imagined life beyond her small-town roots in West Virginia—until she discovered a knack for punching people. Fueled by grit, raw determination, and an unshakable desire to win, she charges into the world of boxing under the guidance of her trainer and manager-turned-husband, Jim (Ben Foster).
However, while Christy flaunts a fiery persona in the ring, her toughest battles unfold outside it—confronting family, identity, and a relationship that just might become life-or-death. Based on remarkable true events, Christy Martin's story is one of resilience, courage, and the fight to reclaim one's life.
Billed as a transformative role for the Madame Web star, who also counts Anyone But You, Euphoria, and Immaculate among her credits, the first trailer and poster for Christy have been released today.
In that, we see more of Sweeney's physical transformation for this role, along with Christy Martin's own journey to in-ring success. Martin competed between 1989 and 2012 and was crowned world champion in the super welterweight class in 2009. In 2010, the boxer was stabbed and shot by her husband, James Martin, but miraculously survived. He's now serving a 25-year prison sentence for attempted second-degree murder.
The movie premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival this week, spawning Oscar buzz for Sweeney. 32 reviews for the movie have been counted on Rotten Tomatoes, where it currently sits at a "Fresh" 63%.
"Boxing movies have a way of feeling mythological, but what’s so effective about 'Christy' is that it simply tells her story, allowing the heroism to rise up out of it," writes Variety, with The Wrap countering, "It succeeds about half the time, making for a split decision where Sweeney and Christy both emerge as champions while the film itself can’t quite go the distance."
The Daily Beast notes that Christy is "so rote that even an A.I. wouldn’t dare try to pass it off as original." Rolling Stone, however, argues, "Christy is a decent movie, and a way better proof-of-concept regarding Sweeney’s willingness to go the distance for a project."
So, it's a bit of a mixed bag, and whether reviews like these are good enough to land the Madame Web star an Oscar remains to be seen.
"I had a nutritionist work with me as well as a weight trainer and a boxing trainer," Sweeney recently said of hr 30lb weight gain for Christy, "We upped my calorie intake and I started taking a lot of protein shakes and supplements and eating everything."
"I ate a lot of Smuckers, a lot of PB and J sandwiches, milkshakes, kind of just constantly always eating because we were so active," she continued. "I was constantly burning it all off at the same time. So keeping it all up was quite a challenge."
Directed by David Michôd from a script he co-wrote with Mirrah Foulkes (Katherine Fugate has a story credit), Christy stars Sydney Sweeney, Ben Foster, Merritt Wever, Katy O'Brian, Ethan Embry, Jess Gabor, Chad Coleman, Bryan Hibbard, Tony Cavalero, and Gilbert Cruz.
Sweeney steps into the ring as Christy Martin in the movie, in theaters on November 7. You can see the trailer and poster for Christy below (via TheRingReport.com).