Movie: Christy (2025)
Directed by: David Michôd
Starring: Sydney Sweeney, Ben Foster, Merritt Wever, Katy O’Brian
Review by: Kirk Dulin
Review Type: Spoiler Free

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Sydney Sweeney, the Celebrity vs. Sydney Sweeney, the Actor

Before we talk about Christy, we have to talk about Sydney.

Can I tell you a secret? I didn’t watch Euphoria. I’ve never seen The Handmaid’s Tale. And even though Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood is one of my absolute favorite movies of all time, I didn’t notice Sydney Sweeney was one of the Manson girls until YEARS later. 

But here’s what I can tell you about when I first noticed Sydney Sweeney:

Publicly, I only knew that she was on a scandalous HBO Show. Everything changed when I discovered an HBO Original Film debuted titled “Reality (2023).” In “Reality”, the film’s screenplay was created by taking the audio recordings of an FBI Investigation, and copying the transcript as the exact dialogue of the film. Not only is the film “based on a true story”…IT LITERALLY IS THE TRUE STORY. The audience is given actors to dramatize the action. This gimmick is one that certainly pays off, and I HIGHLY recommend seeing it. This concept would be EASY to fail, because so much happens in the UNSPOKEN parts of this film…and Sydney rises to that challenge. 

That film made me KNOW that Sydney Sweeney is NOT just a “Hollywood Blonde”. She loves this artform, and she is committed to full immersion characters and storytelling. I say all of that because there is a very specific idea of what kind of celebrity Sydney Sweeney is or is trying to be. Thankfully, she stars in Christy (2025) to show the world a very different shade to her previous performances.

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Christy: Sydney’s Transformative Performance

Christy is the true story of Christy Martin, a woman who found her strength in spirit and body in the form of female boxing in the 1990s. What began as a “comes-easy-to-me” way of making extra money quickly pivots into a career that cannot be replicated.

The foundation of Christy’s home life, love life, and life purpose is classically laid out with uncomplicated storytelling. Kudos to the writing, editing, and directing here. Once director, David Michôd, establishes trust with the audience, and a hero’s perception of our leading lady, he follows up with a medium escalation through Christy’s early career. Classic biopic stuff happening, using every proven tool: montages, training sessions, and underdog mentality.

Sydney Sweeney, known publicly for her classic and sometimes promiscuous Hollywood look abandons her vanity mask, gaining 30 pounds to portray this boxing legend, as well as strapping on some of the worst hair trends of the 80s and 90s (thank goodness we’ve come so far). The strong hair and makeup team disguise the starlet well, but it would all be for nothing if there wasn’t also a carefully structured character handcuffed to the atrocities that befell this real woman.

Sweeney restricts and explodes in a series of trials in and out of the boxing ring. Though Christy is gratuitous in speaking up for herself, I found the stronger moments when we witness Sweeney listening to those giving counsel to her about her life and career. She is an expert at listening and reacting, which is of paramount importance as an actor.

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Why Should I See Another “Based On A True Story” Movie?

Christy (2025) stands out from the sea of biopics because no one, and I mean NO ONE, could ever artistically create the trials that the real life Christy Martin was put through. Director Michôd intimately brings the camera directly upon Sweeney in her most vulnerable moments, and creates great distances from her in pivotal moments, exposing her loneliness and singular responsibility to survive.

While it is exciting to champion the film’s actors – with a special shoutout to Merritt Wever and Ben Foster who are two of the most under-appreciated actors living today – it should be known that the pacing takes a big toll on the viewer as Christy’s life unfolds. This is heavily felt near the end of the 2nd Act, and the beginning of the 3rd. These sequences within the acts are cluttered with spoonfed dialogue, distrusting the audience to keep up with the story and connect the dots of the rising action. 

Christy’s biggest strengths are in its biggest dramatic punches of the film. These moments are so significantly impactful to our protagonist’s story that the other slow, almost backward moving scenes can be forgiven, saving the movie’s overall score.

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LAST LOOKS:

If you must, please separate your personal feelings about Sydney Sweeney the person from the actor, and trust that she is in the spotlight for her intelligence…and her left hook.

Score: 7.5/10 kernels

Review By: Kirk Dulin

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