
David Michôd, the director of Animal Kingdom, helmed Christy, co-writing the script with Mirrah Foulkes. This film isn’t a typical awards-season grab, and Sydney Sweeney avoids the overly showy performances often seen in biopics. Sweeney has become a frustrating celebrity—she’s not afraid to play with the press, but she’s also carefully managed, making her public appearances feel empty and lacking personality. She’s become a sort of blank slate for public discussion. However, as an actress, she’s captivating, as demonstrated in Christy, the 2023 film Reality, and her decision to start her own production company in 2020 to develop her own projects. While Christy follows the familiar rise-fall-redemption arc of many biopics, it’s more complex than a simple inspirational sports story. It focuses heavily on the abusive relationship between Christy Martin and her coach-turned-husband, Jim Martin (Ben Foster), and how he increasingly controls her, ultimately attempting to murder her when she tries to leave him.