You’ve seen the photos by now. The ones where Sydney Sweeney looks absolutely nothing like the girl from Euphoria or Anyone But You. She’s got the brown mullet, the baggy sweats, and a physique that looks like it was chiseled out of West Virginia coal.
People keep calling it "the Sydney Sweeney boxing movie," but the actual title is Christy. It hit theaters in November 2025, and honestly, if you went in expecting a standard "underdog wins the belt" story, you probably walked out feeling a little rattled.
This isn't Rocky. It’s a gritty, sometimes hard-to-watch biopic about Christy Martin, the woman who basically forced the world to take female boxing seriously in the 90s. But the movie spends as much time on the domestic horror she faced at home as it does on her legendary fights on Mike Tyson’s undercards.
The Physical Transformation Was No Joke
Sydney Sweeney didn't just put on a wig and call it a day. She reportedly packed on about 30 to 35 pounds of muscle for this role. To get there, she was hitting the gym three times a day.
We’re talking weight training in the morning, two hours of kickboxing and ring work in the middle of the day, and then heading back for more weights at night. She told W Magazine that she was eating constantly—PB&Js, protein shakes, and whatever else her nutritionist threw at her—just to keep up with the calories she was burning.
The result? She went from a size 23 waist to a 27. She looked dense. Powerful. It’s the kind of "disappearing into a role" that usually smells like Oscar bait, but Sweeney seems more interested in the raw athleticism of it all. She did all her own stunts. Every punch you see her throw or take in Christy is actually her. She even walked away with a massive black eye after filming the sequence for the Laila Ali fight.
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It’s Not Just About Boxing
The movie, directed by David Michôd (the guy behind Animal Kingdom), is divided into two very different vibes. The first half is the rise. You see Christy Salters, a kid from a small town in West Virginia, fighting in "Toughwoman" contests and eventually signing with Don King.
She was the first woman to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated with the headline "The Lady Is a Champ." But the real meat of the story—and the part that’s honestly pretty tough to sit through—is her relationship with her trainer and husband, Jim Martin.
Ben Foster plays Jim, and he is terrifying. He’s got this sleazy combover and a way of speaking that makes your skin crawl. Jim was 25 years older than Christy. He was her coach, her manager, and her tormentor.
The Survival Story Nobody Talks About
While the public saw a champion, Christy was living in a nightmare. The film doesn't shy away from the fact that Jim used her sexuality to control her. Christy is a lesbian—something she knew since she was in the fifth grade—but Jim threatened to "out" her to her traditional family and the world if she ever tried to leave him.
The "boxing movie" tag is almost a distraction from the fact that this is a domestic violence survival story. In 2010, the real-life tragedy came to a head. After Christy reconnected with her high school girlfriend, Sherry Lusk (played by Merritt Wever in the film), she told Jim she wanted a divorce.
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He didn't take it well. He stabbed her multiple times and shot her with her own 9mm handgun.
She survived. She literally crawled out of her house and flagged down a stranger to save her life. The movie covers this in a harrowing third act that feels more like a horror film than a sports drama. Jim Martin actually died in prison in late 2024 while serving a 25-year sentence for attempted second-degree murder, just as this movie was moving through post-production.
Why the Reviews Are So Split
When Christy premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September 2025, critics weren't exactly in agreement.
Some loved it. They called it Sweeney’s "career-best" performance. Others, like the folks over at Roger Ebert, felt the boxing scenes were a bit too "standard" and lacked the artistry of something like Raging Bull.
There’s also the box office. The movie didn't exactly set the world on fire when it opened on November 7, 2025. Sweeney herself had to defend it, basically saying that not every movie is made for the opening weekend numbers and that the story of Christy Martin was worth telling regardless of the "smackdown" it took on social media.
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The Cast You Might Have Missed
While Sweeney and Foster carry the heavy lifting, the supporting cast is stacked:
- Katy O’Brian: Plays Lisa Holewyne, a fellow boxer and a key figure in Christy’s life.
- Merritt Wever: Brings a lot of heart as Joyce Salters (though she also represents the connection to Sherry Lusk).
- Ethan Embry: Plays John Salters.
What You Should Know Before Watching
If you’re going to stream this or find a screening, go in knowing it’s heavy. It deals with:
- Graphic domestic violence and emotional abuse.
- The "transactional" nature of 90s sports.
- The struggle of being closeted in the public eye.
It’s a 135-minute commitment. It’s long. It’s bleak. But if you want to see an actor like Sydney Sweeney prove she has the range to be a heavyweight in the industry, it’s essential viewing.
To get the full context of the real-life events, you might want to check out the Netflix documentary Untold: Deal with the Devil. It features the real Christy Martin telling her story in her own words, and it makes some of the scenes in the biopic feel even more surreal once you realize how much of it is beat-for-beat accurate to what she actually endured.
Actionable Next Steps
If you're interested in the story of Christy Martin beyond the Hollywood dramatization, here is how you can dive deeper:
- Watch the Documentary: Start with Untold: Deal with the Devil on Netflix. It provides the literal "receipts" for the abuse and the 2010 attack that the movie depicts.
- Read the Autobiography: Christy Martin released a book called Fighting for My Life. It’s much more detailed about her early years in West Virginia and her relationship with her parents than the movie could ever be.
- Check the Stats: Look up the 1996 fight between Christy Martin and Deirdre Gogarty. That’s the specific match that most experts say "legitimized" women's boxing. It’s available on various sports archive sites.
- Domestic Violence Resources: Because the film is a heavy depiction of abuse, it's often paired with resources for survivors. If you or someone you know is in a similar situation to what is depicted in the film, the National Domestic Violence Hotline (800-799-7233) is the gold standard for help.