Christy

Christy tells the story of Christy Martin, the boxer who brought women's boxing onto the big American fight nights of the 1990s. Directed by Australian filmmaker David Michôd (Animal Kingdom), it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 5 September 2025 and opened in US theaters on 7 November 2025.

A real career

Martin fought as a professional from 1989 to 2012 and finished 49-7-3. Her breakthrough came on 16 March 1996 in Las Vegas, when her six-round decision win over Ireland's Deirdre Gogarty aired on the Showtime pay-per-view undercard of Mike Tyson vs Frank Bruno. A month later she became the first female boxer on the cover of Sports Illustrated. The film runs from 1989 to 2010, covering her 2003 loss to Laila Ali and the 2010 attack by her husband, who was convicted in 2012.

Sydney Sweeney in the ring

Sweeney put on more than 30 pounds, trained in boxing and weightlifting, and did her own fight scenes. Ben Foster plays Jim Martin, Merritt Wever plays Christy's mother, Katy O'Brian plays Lisa Holewyne and Chad L. Coleman plays Don King. Boxers will recognise Martin's style: a pressure puncher who kept walking forward looking for exchanges.

A box office bomb

The film cost $15 million and grossed about $2.3 million worldwide, one of the weakest openings ever for a release in more than 2,000 theaters. Reviews were mixed (66% on Rotten Tomatoes), with near-universal praise for Sweeney and a more conventional script.